Centennial freshman Megnauth impressive in the circle
Freshman Makayla Megnauth fired a one-hitter and her Eagle teammates were able to scratch home a run in the fifth inning, as Port St. Lucie Centennial defeated St. Cloud, 1-0, in an FHSAA Class 7A, Region 2 softball semifinal on Wednesday afternoon.
Megnauth struck out nine and allowed just two runners to reach base on Maddie Reyes’ walk in the first inning and Lacey Scott’s bunt single.
After Scott’s hit, Megnauth retired the next 17 batters she faced.
“We knew she was a good pitcher,” St. Cloud coach Ray Whobrey said. “But Centennial had also given up a lot of unearned runs this season. I felt if we could put the ball in play, we could take advantage of that. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.”
While St. Cloud pitcher Addison Felblinger was keeping Centennial off the board for the first four innings, her teammates had the first two scoring opportunities in the game.
Reyes stole second and third after her walk. But with one out, Megnauth recorded back-to-back strike outs to end the threat.
“That really turned out to be the most important inning. We put the ball on the ground with one out, we probably score that may have changed the whole game,” Whobrey noted.
After Scott’s one-out bunt in the second, she stole second but didn’t advance further.
Centennial got the game’s only run in the fifth when Emma Hazelton reached on a bloop single over first base, Haylie Lawson singled to left, Myrna Platt singled to center. The winning run came in on Rayne Cohen’s infield hit to short, where Reyes fielded the ball cleanly, looked briefly to second for the force before throwing late to first base.
“She simply made a mistake that young players are going to make,” Whobrey said. “She just hesitated for a second thinking the play was there and was just a half second late to first base. But that run and one play did not cost us the game. Our inability to make anything happen offensively was our downfall.”
“Losses like this are really hard to take,” said Felblinger in her final game as a Bulldog. “The umpire had a really big strike zone, but it was pretty consistent both ways. She (Megnauth) had some good spin on her pitches and we simply couldn’t put anything together offensively.”
Felblinger certainly pitched well enough to win. She allowed just three runners into scoring position, struck out six and did not walk a batter.
She’s just one of three seniors Whobrey will lose off his team that went 18-11. And while he said the future is bright for St. Cloud softball, he got misty-eyed talking about Felblinger, and Indian River State College signee.
“Four-year starter, a great player, a great leader, and a better person,” he said. “I know she is going to be successful no matter where she goes, but she had meant so much to St. Cloud softball the last four years. You simply don’t replace players like her.”
