At the end of the long day, it was one play that made the difference.
Aracelys Gonzalez’s sinking line drive in the fourth inning skipped by St. Cloud outfielder Khia Czeczeli for a three-run triple to help Boone to a 4-2 win over the Bulldogs in FHSAA regional softball action on Thursday night. The Braves will face Jupiter in Tuesday's regional semifinal.
With the score tied 1-1, Saliah Collazo started the game-winning rally with a double to deep center. Kalyn Woods reached on a fielder’s choice and Paige Barry loaded the bases one out later with a walk. St. Cloud pitcher Addison Felblinger retired Lily Surber on a pop out to short, but on a 2-2 pitch Gonzalez ripped her line shot down the line.
St. Cloud tried to fight back, cutting the gap to two in the bottom of the fourth as Madelis Reyes’ doubled home Grace Comiskey, who had reached on an error.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with no outs; Sophia Soto led off with an infield single, Grace Watford reached on a throwing error, and Comiskey was hit by a pitch. Boone pitcher Charlotte Tellez bore down and retired Kacey Pagan on foul out to first, then shortstop Emma Wolfgramm caught Reyes’ soft line drive out of the air and tossed to third to double off Soto to end the game.
“Bottom line we had our chances to win this game and simply did not come up with the big hit when we needed it,” St. Cloud Coach Ray Whobrey said of his team that went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. “A few base running mistakes aside, I thought we played a really solid game but again, we just didn’t execute when we had too.”
Although the Bulldogs collected seven hits – including three for extra bases – Tellez kept St. Cloud batters off-balance all night, retiring seven with infield pop outs.
“It worked in her favor tonight,” Whobrey said. “When you have face a slow pitcher after seeing power pitchers all season, those slow pitches can be really hard to adjust to. They can be as effective as a changeup and can result in a lot of pop outs.”
Soto collected two hits in the game that started over 90 minutes late due to lightning and rain delays, and Comiskey scored both Bulldog runs. Felblinger struck out seven in the circle.
Whobrey said that he was proud of his team that finished with a 21-6 record.
“Not the way we wanted the season to end, but this team accomplished a lot this year, including 20 wins and a district championship,” he said. “We’re going to miss our four departing seniors but we have an awful lot of talent coming back – not to mention some incoming freshmen that will help us.”
