Lake Wales rallies past Lake Region to return to state tournament
EAGLE LAKE — If the Lake Wales Highlanders had only one victory over Lake Region, they picked the right time to use that card.
The Highlanders trailed by a run when play was suspended in the fourth inning on Friday night, but they grabbed the lead in the fifth and went on to defeat the Thunder, 8-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Class 4A, Region 2 finals at Region High School.
The victory sends Lake Wales (19-11) back to the state tournament for the second year in a row. The last time the Highlanders, who will at 11 a.m. on Wednesday in the 4a state semifinals, went to the state tournament in back-to-back years came in '95 and '96 when they finished state runners-up each year.
Lake Wales finished runner-up last year and will be trying to win its third state title overall and first under head coach Mike Settle. Lake Wales, which is in the state tournament for the ninth time and won state titles under Nancy Denton in '07 and '13. Denton stepped down after the 2015 season but returned a few years ago to work with the pitchers.
And pitching was key. With starting pitcher Anna Conroy struggling with her control on Friday and lasting 1/3 of an inning, Lake Wales turned to Kirsten McRae, who entered the season as the No. 3 pitcher. McRae got Lake Wales out of jam in the first inning on one pitch that turned into an inning-ending double play. She then shut down the Thunder nearly the rest of the way. She allowed one run on just two hits in 6 2/3 innings and walked one batter. She did not strike out a batter, but the Highlanders played errorless defense behind her.
"Kirsten was huge," Lake Wales coach Mike Settles said. "She works every day in the bullpen right along there with Anna. And I actually told her on Wednesday to get ready because you don't ever know when we're going to need you. (Lake Region coach) John (Bridges) has done a great job with that team, and we were fortunate to get a win today, and Kirsten was a big part of that."
Lake Wales' bats were hot when play resumed on Saturday with Lake Region leading 2-1. Kiera Morris worked a walk to lead off the top of the fifth off Thunder starter McKenna Meadows, who had walked just eight batters all season.Zamya McBurrows followed with an infield single, and Kiera Davis sacrificed runners to second and third.
Presley Smith, who finished 3 for 4, ripped a triple that drove in two runs and gave Lake Wales the 3-2 lead, Lydia Denton followed with a single to right that drove in Smith and Lake Wales led, 4-2.
"Lydia has been swinging the bat well, and she just ate everything up at third base," Settles said. "So they were both big for us."
McRae retired Lake Region 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth, and the Highlanders added four runs in the sixth — all with two outs — to take control of the game.
Davis began the two-out rally with a double and scored on McBurrows' single. McBurrow went to second on the throw home and scored on Davis' single. After Smith singled, Denton's two-run single gave Lake Wales a commanding 8-2 lead.
Meadows tripled and scored in the top of the third but that was all the damage the Thunder could do against McRae.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales rallies past Lake Region to return to state tournament
