Kacey Pagan opened the fifth inning with a double and later scored on a wild pitch as St. Cloud captured the District 7A-6 softball championship Wednesday with a 3-2 win over arch-rival Harmony.
“I know the fans love ‘em, but I sort of hate rivalry games – especially this time of year,” a relieved St. Cloud coach Ray Whobrey said of his team that won its first district championship since 2019. “There’s enough pressure in any playoff game and the rivalry aspect just magnifies that pressure. Still I am really proud of how these kids responded and fought all game. We have a really young team and they remained calm when things got tight.”
With the win, St. Cloud (22-5) will host a regional quarterfinal game next Thursday. Brackets will be announced Friday. Ranked ninth in the region heading into the championship game, Harmony (12-13) most likely saw its season come to an end.
St. Cloud jumped on top 2-0 in the first inning thanks to some aggressive base running. With two outs, Addison Felblinger blooped a single over second base, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Skylah Rodriguez walked and then stole second. Felblinger scored on a wild pitch and Rodriguez followed on a single by Sheyene Hawkins.
The Longhorns tied it in the top of the third thanks to some key hitting and smart base running.
With one out, Lindsay Green smashed a double down the third base line and Jade Allen put runners on the corners with a single to center. Emerson Aslan coaxed a walk to load the bases. Haley Diaz hit an RBI single, then Harmony tied it when Aslan intentionally got caught in a run down between second and third allowing Allen to score the tying run.
Despite Green’s fifth-inning double that stayed in park thanks to the high batter’s eye wall in center. Felblinger settled down to retire Allen and Yi on infield pop ups to end the inning. Pagan’s run in the bottom of the fifth was the winning margin.
Harmony had the potential tying run on base in the sixth and seventh innings, but Felblinger, who gave up six hits and struck out eight, ended each threat.
“We have ridden Addison all season and she was great again tonight,” Whobrey said. “After Green’s double in the fifth, Addison just bore down and really didn’t allow much after that.”
Still St. Cloud needed to take advantage of its aggressiveness on the base paths to win. Overall, St. Cloud stole six bases and took advantage of a hit batter, three walks, and four wild pitches as the Bulldogs had trouble stringing hits together off Green.
“We have used our team speed to our advantage all year,” Whobrey said. “We didn’t hit the ball particularly well but we did take advantage on the base paths.”
Green allowed just three hits, and had two doubles at the plate.
“She has been a great player and a great leader for us the past couple of seasons,” Harmony Coach Kristi Mindrup noted of her senior captain. “But she is also a great student and an even better person and will be a great success in whatever she pursues in college. We will miss her greatly.”
Longhorns baseball one win away from regional finals: In other state playoff action, the Harmony Longhorns (24-6) took an impressive 13-4 come-from-behind win over Jupiter Wednesday. The Horns fell behind 3-0, but tied the game then batted around in the fourth to score five times and put the game away in the sixth with four more runs.
Matt Grau and Samuel Castillo each drove in three runs and Ismael Rivera picked up the win – striking out eight and allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings of relief.
It was Harmony’s 11th straight win and sets up a potential series clinching game against Jupiter today (Thursday) at 4 p.m. A Longhorn loss would force a Game 3 at Jupiter on Saturday.
