'Just the wrong day to come out like that': Deltona limited to one hit in 5-0 title game loss

CLERMONT — As the season dwindled down to the final few outs on Thursday, a stout wind picked up and a steady rain began to fall at Legends Way Fields.

But the floodgates had long since opened on Deltona.

Top-seeded Parrish Community scratched out three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and the Wolves could never find footing against Bulls pitcher Isabella Vega, who threw a one-hit shutout with six strikeouts. It added up to a 5-0 decision for Parrish in the 5A state championship game.

The loss ended a 10-game win streak for Deltona (22-5) and denied the Wolves a second straight state title. Deltona won the Class 4A crown last season, becoming the first Volusia County softball squad to win a championship.

'ONE GAME AWAY': Deltona back on the doorstep of another state title with semifinal win over South Fork

'THEY BELONGED HERE': 'They belonged here': Spruce Creek falls to undefeated Stoneman Douglas in state semifinal

But from the start on Thursday, the Wolves’ offense seemed befuddled and by the end, Vega had faced the minimum, allowing just a single to Delanie Perry in the top of the fifth. A pinch runner was caught stealing and already leading 1-0, the Bulls pounced in the bottom half, using three RBI hits to put the Wolves in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

“Just the wrong day to come out like that,” Deltona coach Lindsay Ingram noted.

Vega, a UCF commit, mixed speeds and levels while pounding the zone and though the Wolves were able to put the ball in play at times, didn’t square much of anything up. Deltona senior catcher Morgan Davis, who entered hitting .667 over her previous 10 games with 12 multi-hit efforts in the last 13 outings, said the majority of her team’s struggles were mental.

“I feel like we were in our heads,” Davis said. “Our team the whole time was worried about what she was throwing and what she was going to do. We got ourselves that game.

“We needed to be more selective on the pitches we were swinging at. That’s what it came down to.”

For a while, Deltona senior pitcher Katie McCaw and the team’s defense were able to keep the Wolves hanging around. Parrish took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single for nine-hole hitter Lindsey Watson, but that score stuck until the fifth.

After the Wolves were unable to cash in on their lone opportunity with a runner on base, the Bulls broke through. Julia Girk laced a one-out, RBI triple to left-center field and came home on a single up the middle from Carsyn Kull. With two outs, Ella Romano added an RBI double. A larger deficit at 4-0 only led to more forced at-bats and no success for the Wolves.

Obviously, the ending was disappointing but for a group that nearly repeated as champion despite rising in classification and enduring losses via graduation. But through the tears, perspective came as well.

“It’s an honor, I’m really proud of us,” McCaw said, fighting off emotion. “I’m proud we made it to this game. Obviously, I’m upset but we put up a fight. We came here and we did this and that’s honestly a huge accomplishment even though it’s upsetting we didn’t pull it out the way we wanted to.”

McCaw and Davis are part of a core of six seniors, five of whom were starters this season. Both will also continue their careers in college with McCaw attending the University of Tampa and Davis heading to Polk State College.

Certainly, some solace was drawn from the thought of future battles at the next level. But in the immediate wake of Thursday’s loss, it was more about appreciating what the group of departing upperclassmen had accomplished and the legacy they now leave behind.

“It sucks we lost, but we did great things,” Davis said. “I’m sad to leave, but we left a great legacy.”

“I wish them the best of luck,” McCaw added about next year’s returning players. “Stay working hard at practice and give it everything they’ve got because before they’ll know it, it’s gone.”

And such is life running a successful program. For Ingram, the turnover is bittersweet and while this year’s group will be missed, she said its impact on the team will be felt for years to come.

“The younger kids, just being in this atmosphere — it’s hard to get here,” Ingram said. “That’s not an easy feat to get back to the championship game and for them to realize what they have to do year in and year out and just work, work, work. (The seniors) laid the groundwork and in years past, just with the history of Deltona, it’s been there.”

McCaw struck out six in her final prep game. Girk went 3 for 4 with Romano (2 for 3) and Rylee Little (2 for 2, triple) each contributing multi-hit efforts for the Bulls.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: FHSAA softball: Deltona falls one game short in bid for second title