Bartow's Driskell provides clutch hit as Oxley outduels Francik in regional final

BARTOW — Call it “Red Oxley vs. Jasmine Francik Part III: The End Game.” It was that rare third sequel that matched or perhaps even surpassed the original and rematch, the final matchup of their high school careers that more than lived up to the hype.

Both Bartow’s ace and Melbourne’s ace were at their dominating best as expected, so the biggest drama of the game was which of their teammates would provide the game-winning heroics?

That player was Destiny Driskell, which should not have been a surprise.

Bartow’s senior right fielder is no stranger to clutch hitting in an elimination playoff game and her RBI single up the middle sent Bartow to a 1-0 victory in eight innings on Friday night in the Class 6A, Region 3 final, allowing the Yellow Jackets the chance to defend their 6A state title.

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“It was tough that somebody had to lose that game,” said Bartow coach Glenn Rutenbar, who picked up his 900th career win as a head coach. “People who have any Florida high school softball involvement, they’re looking at this game. I would be if we weren’t in it. You knew it would be a great game.”

The victory avenged a loss to Melbourne in the regional finals two years ago and a loss earlier this season. It also sends Bartow (29-1) to the state semifinals on Thursday as the Yellow Jackets continue their bid for a 10th state title overall and a ninth for Rutenbar.

“I can't even explain how bad I wanted it,” Driskell said. “It's like an unreal feeling to be able to go back my senior year.”

Driskell’s hit came after the first two batters of the inning failed to bunt runner Lexi Hayford to third. A new rule went into effect this season that placed a runner on second base to start extra innings.

Driskell, whose game winning hit capped Bartow’s state semifinal victory over Doral Academy last year, took the first pitch and sent it back up the middle past Francik into center field.

“I knew it was on the line, but I was praying nonstop,” said Driskell, who finished with two hits. “I knew I could do it. I did it last season and I knew that my time would come, and I saw the pitch and I was like, 'Do what you know how to do.' And I did.”

Oxley had confidence in her teammate in that spot.

“She was determined,” Oxley said. “She’s a determined little girl. The one thing about her is that she's worked throughout her four years on that left side. She knows what to do. After you've seen the pitcher for so long, you get more calm. At the end she was like, OK, this is it, this is do or die, this is go home. This is my moment.”

Hayford took off and never stopped running, sliding head first into home plate while the throw home sailed high.

“I was like, I'm running my heart out,” Hayford said. “I need to, we need to win this, and I did. I saw the ball drop the middle. I was not stopping.”

Prior to Driskell’s clutch hit, it was Oxley and Francik matching each other pitch-for-pitch with both pitchers rising to the occasion when the other team had a scoring chance.

Oxley, who has been battling a stomach bug for a week, struck out 15 of the 29 batters she faced and allowed two hits with one walk. Francik struck out 11 of the 28 batters she faced and allowed five hits with no walks. It was high stress from start to finish.

“Oh my gosh, we've been anticipating this game, but it was one game at a time,” Oxley said. “Whenever we were coming here, we were in the clubhouse, we were all together. We've been all together all all day since the school was out, and we haven't left each other. I think that really helped us a lot to come into this game as one. And I feel like even with the error and stuff, no one was feeling each other out. We knew that was going to happen. We knew that they were going to play small ball and that leads to a lot of years. And we knew that in the end if we just ignore it, we’ll deal with it. Just ignore it and deal with it. And I feel like that's how we came into the game. Ignore the bad and deal with it, move on and go for the good. And I feel like we really monopolized on that. I feel like the defense really came together at the end.”

Bartow committed four errors, and the first batter of the game reached on an error. Melbourne had a runner on second base with less than two outs in three of the first four innings and also had a runner on second with two outs in the seventh.

Including the eighth inning, Melbourne had a runner in scoring position in five innings. Oxley, who has signed with Florida, ended all five innings with strikeouts, including back-to-back strikeouts in the first inning. In a couple of clutch moments, her ball appeared to have a bit more zip on it.

“Whenever I let it go and I feel it come off and it's just like crisp, that's when I know I'm locked in, I'm ready,” she said.

The victory was especially sweet for Oxley as it was her last game on Bartow’s home field.

“I do not want my senior year to end on this. field,” she said. “If it's going to end, it's not going to end off of it because I love this field. I love this place too much. It's my safe space, and it's been for four years. It's where I come to whenever I'm having a bad day. It's where I come to whenever I'm having a good day. It's my home.”

Bartow’s best scoring chance prior to the eighth came in the fourth inning. Kyndal Cornelius led off with a single, and Julia Heter singled and reached second with one out. Like Oxley, Francik, who has signed with Florida State, rose to the occasion and struck out back-to-back batters to end the inning.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow Oxley outduels Melbourne's Francik in regional softball final