Bartow stuns Doral with another improbable 7th-inning rally in 6A softball state semis

CLERMONT — Bartow wasn’t just satisfied with breaking Doral Academy’s hearts with another come-from-behind victory for the second year in a row, this time the Yellow Jackets amped up the degree of difficulty.

The Yellow Jackets trailed by three runs going into the bottom of the seventh inning after rallying for four runs in the top half of the inning, and Firebirds were three outs away from avenging last year’s semifinal loss. However, when it comes to Bartow pulling out improbable wins, it’s been there, done that, and the Yellow Jackets did it again.

Bartow answered Doral’s big inning with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Julia Heter scored the winning run on Shay Parker’s infield groundout, and Bartow escaped with a 7-6 victory over Doral on Tuesday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2024 FHSAA Class 6A Softball State Champions at Legends Way Ballfields.

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It’s the second consecutive walk-off win for Bartow. The Yellow Jackets slipped past Melbourne, 1-0, in the regional final last week.

“The last two games are ridiculous,” Bartow coach Glenn Rutenbar said.

Bartow (30-1), ranked No. 1 in the FHSAA power rankings, will play No. 2 Pace in another rematch in the 6A state final at 7:30 Friday night, looking for its 10th state title. In last year’s final, Bartow scored four runs in the top of the seventh to defeat Pace, 5-1. In their last three state tournament games, the Yellow Jackets have scored 10 runs in the seventh inning.

Last year, Bartow trailed Doral by a run going into the bottom of the seventh inning. This year, Bartow trailed 6-3, but the Yellow Jackets weren’t going to roll over.

“You know everybody’s thinking it’s probably over,” Rutenbar said. “But we’re not going to quit. The game’s over when they tell us we can’t play anymore.”

Destiny Driskell — who else? — started the game-winning rally with a leadoff single. That’s hardly a shock as the senior right fielder is batting .416 (5 for 12) in her last three state tournament games and has been at the center of all three seventh-inning explosions.

It was, it was absolutely, crucial, for her to do that,” Cornelius said. “She's a clutch hitter. She's always been a clutch hitter. Her getting on base really set us up.”

Doral pitcher Yesenia Lopez briefly left the game with an apparent hand injury. McKenzie Gibson walked and Red Oxley was hit in the elbow of her pitching arm to load the bases.

Lopez returned but Julia Heter singled to drive in the first run of the inning. Courtesy runner Lexi Hayford then scored to make it 6-5 with courtesy runner Alyssa Hillman advancing to third. Hillman scored on Shay Narcisse’s infield grounder with the catcher not attempting a tag. Narcisse was safe at first, setting the stage for Parker.

With two strikes and one out, Parker just wanted to put the ball in play. She hit a ground ball to third base. Heter held at third until the throw across the diamond. With Rutenbar yelling, “Go, go, go,” Heter took off for home and slid in safely as the ball went to the backstop.

“This morning, I was like, it's going to be my time today,” Parker said. “I'm going to get this win. I'm happy I got my team to the state (finals). We've been working hard for this whole season.”

Prior to the action-packed seventh inning, both team got on the scoreboard with two-run homers. This was a far different game than Bartow’s early-season win over Doral, 1-0. The two teams combined for six hits in the regular-season meeting but combined for 17 hits on Thursday.

With Driskell, of course, on first base after a leadoff single, Kyndal Cornelius slammed a two-run homer to straight-away center to give Oxley a two-run lead.

“Honestly, in the box, I was trying not to think at all,” Cornelius said. “We faced her before, and I knew what she was throwing, andI knew what she was expecting. It was probably the best moment this year that I've had.”

Sarah Beaux, who staked Doral to a 2-0 lead last season with a first-inning two-run homer, tied the score with a two-run blast in the top of the fourth.

Bartow went up 3-2 in the fifth with heads-up running. With Hayford on second, and Cornelius on first, Oxley drilled a long fly ball to the fence in foul territory. The ball was caught but both runners tagged and advanced a base. The throw to the infield got away from the Doral fielder, who casually tried to flick the ball into her glove but knocked it further away. Hayford then took off for home and scored.

Oxley, who struck out 12, struck out the side in the top of the sixth after escaping a base-loaded jam in the fifth. With the 7-8-9 hitters due up in the seventh, it was set up for her to end the game, but on a hot afternoon, she tired.

The first two batter got on with a double and a single. Oxley struck out the No. 9 batter, but the tying run scored on the dropped third strike on the throw to first. Oxley allowed a walk then got the second out and was on the verge of escaping without further damage. But Meagan Villazon slammed a two-run double, and Breax followed with an RBI single to give Doral its three-run lead.

“When it happened, it was a little overwhelming but then you really have to think about these girls and how much we trust each other,” Cornelius said. “And I think that’s exactly whey we pulled through because of how much trust we have in each other.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow rallies to beat Doral, will play Pace in 6A softball title game