FHSAA softball regional finals include 8 teams from Orlando area
Seminole County foes face off Friday in FHSAA softball regional championship games.
Lake Brantley hosts Sanford Seminole in the Class 7A Region 1 final with a chance to advance to the state tournament next week at Legends Way Ball Fields in Clermont.
Windermere (7A), Horizon (5A), Eustis (4A), Montverde Academy (3A) and Cornerstone Charter (2A) also host regional championship games Friday as No. 1 seeds.
Hagerty plays at Pace on Saturday in a 6A classification that includes five of its eight region finalists ranked inside the Top 15 nationally by MaxPreps.
Pace enters the game vs. Hagerty ranked No. 7.
No. 5 Melbourne (29-0) plays No. 9 Bartow (28-1) in Region 3. No. 12 Doral Academy (26-1) and No. 14 Bloomingdale (27-1) compete in separate regions.
Admission to all regional games is $9. Tickets are available for purchase at the GoFan app.
Check SentinelVarsity.com for updated tournament results and matchups.
Class 7A Region 1
No. 4 Seminole (16-7) at No. 2 Lake Brantley (18-8), 7
Buzz: Lake Brantley is 19-3 against Seminole since 2010, including a 3-0 win on April 5. The reigning region champion Patriots advanced with a 10-3 win vs. St. Johns Creekside (21-6) as Auriana Turner went 3-for-3 with a home run, triple, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. McKaelyn Fowler finished 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored. Seminole won 3-1 at No. 1 seed Port Orange Spruce Creek (20-4) for its second win vs. the Hawks in 16 tries since 2012. Addison Poe went 2-for-3 with a home run and Anne Long struck out 6.
Class 7A Region 2
No. 2 Lutz Steinbrenner (21-8) at No. 1 Windermere (22-4), 4:30
Buzz: Windermere is in the regional final round for the second straight season following a 6-0 win vs. Palm Harbor University (19-7). Carly Bunnell hit a home run and had 4 RBI and Emilie Ching hit a 2-run double. Lexi King tallied 7 strikeouts with 3 hits and no walks allowed. The Wolverines defeated Steinbrenner 10-2 in a 2022 regional quarterfinal. Lily Holtje is batting .478 (32-for-67) with 28 RBI, 7 home runs and 7 doubles for the Warriors.
State semis: Friday, 10 a.m. and 11:15
Class 6A Region 1
No. 2 Hagerty (23-5) at No. 1 Pace (25-2), Saturday, 8
Buzz: It’s a rematch of last year’s regional final won 10-1 by eventual state runner-up Pace. The Patriots have turned in 17 shutouts and allowed just 24 runs this season. Pace is batting .381 with 42 home runs as a team. Hagerty won 11-0 vs. Orange Park Oakleaf (18-9) in the semis. Alexandra Beldowicz went 3-for-4 with a home run and a triple and Ana Roman went 2-for-4 with a home run. Rachel Matthiesen finished 2-for-3 with a double.
State semis: Thursday, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Class 5A Region 2
No. 2 Seminole Osceola (19-10) at No. 1 Horizon (22-5), 7
Buzz: Osceola eliminated Horizon 6-2 in last year’s regional quarterfinals. The Warriors are batting .361 as a team with 39 doubles, 13 triples and 19 home runs. Horizon won 4-0 vs. last year’s regional champ River Ridge (16-12) as Ava Abel, Addison Lamb and MacKenzie Duncan each drove in runs. Duncan finished with 11 strikeouts while allowing 1 hit and 2 walks. The Hawks carry a 0.90 ERA.
State semis: Thursday, 10 a.m. and noon
Class 4A Region 2
No. 3 Melbourne Eau Gallie (17-6) at No. 1 Eustis (23-2), 7
Buzz: Eustis won 7-2 vs. defending state champion Lake Wales (15-14) on Tuesday. Katie Short went 2-for-2 with 2 doubles and an RBI and Skyler Cloud finished with 8 strikeouts. Adrianna Covino, Brooklyn Powhida and Ciara Maple each drove in runs. Eau Gallie came away with an 11-1 upset of No. 2 seed Eagle Lake Lake Region (20-8). The Commodores have four players batting .389 or better.
State semis: Wednesday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Class 3A Region 2
No. 2 Alachua Santa Fe (23-4) at No. 1 Montverde Academy (25-4), 7
Buzz: La’Breah Sands finished with 14 strikeouts while allowing 2 hits and 4 walks for Montverde during a 3-1 win vs. Crystal River (22-6). Aracelis Jimenez went 2-for-3 with a double and 2 runs scored. Elena Friedman and Danika Spinogatti each had an RBI for the defending region champs. Santa Fe advanced with an 8-0 win vs. Trinity Prep (17-7). The Raiders are batting .434 with 46 doubles, 17 triples and 14 home runs.
State semis: Tuesday, 3 p.m. and 5
Class 2A Region 2
No. 3 Academy at the Lakes (18-11) at No. 1 Cornerstone Charter (26-3), 7
Buzz: Cornerstone held off The First Academy (16-11) for a 2-1 semifinal win as Bekah Mitchell finished with 8 strikeouts and 3 hits allowed while also going 1-for-2 with an RBI for the Ducks. Cornerstone has won 13 in a row since back-to-back losses in April. Academy at the Lakes won 4-0 at No. 2 seed Foundation Academy (15-8), which was a state semifinalist last season. The Wildcats are batting .320 as a team.
State semis: Tuesday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
