Regional softball roundup: Spruce Creek rolls past Mandarin, but 3 local teams eliminated

PORT ORANGE — The bottom of the order knocked in early runs, the heavy hitters went yard and Kentucky commit Julie Kelley produced yet another double-digit strikeout performance.

It was business as usual for Spruce Creek to kick off the Florida High School Athletic Association's Region 1-7A softball playoffs. The top-seeded Hawks (20-3) rolled to a 7-0 home victory over Mandarin, their 11th in a row, to set up a semifinal matchup with Seminole at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

"You coach for this point," Hawks head coach Cameron McClelland said. "We stubbed our toes two different times to quality teams (Eustis and Melbourne), but you just work on getting better every week.

"Do we have the right ingredients? Eh, we have enough to keep it interesting, for sure."

Regional baseball roundup: Spruce Creek stuns Bartram Trail on extra-inning, walk-off bunt

Kelley set the tone with a rare four-strikeout first inning; Olivia Anderson reached base safely on a dropped third strike with one out, and Shelby Ricketts was hit by a pitch. Mandarin (15-9) mustered its first hit of the evening in the fifth inning.

"I think I honestly just erased it from my brain," Kelley, who finished with 14 Ks, said of the unusual start. "I'm not the type of pitcher that is going to let everything get to my head. I just moved on to the next batter."

Spruce Creek grabbed the lead in the second when Addi Morford dropped the first of her three hits into left field for an RBI single. Taylor Ferrandino brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, and Neena Hernandez added a run-scoring single for insurance.

The Hawks put the result beyond doubt one inning later. Alexis Minaberry crushed a solo home run to center, and Kelley followed suit with a nearly identical bomb to the same part of the park.

"She took my spotlight a little bit. Didn't even have much time to celebrate me before celebrating Julie," Minaberry joked. "I'm proud of her. Can't complain."

Minaberry, a sophomore, smacked another home run in the fifth to tie for the team lead (six). Spruce Creek collected 12 hits off Ricketts on the night, upping its team batting average to .343 for the season.

Gainesville 12, Deltona 1

Deltona's hopes of reaching a third straight state softball final were extinguished early by the hard-hitting Hurricanes.

Braylin Cook launched a three-run homer in the first inning, and Gainesville broke the game open with a six-run fourth inning to eliminate the Wolves (18-6) from the Region 1-5A playoffs.

Gulf Breeze 2, Matanzas 0

Leila Ammon outdueled Leah Stevens, tossing a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts, to lead Gulf Breeze past Matanzas in a Region 1-5A quarterfinal.

Kenna King doubled and scored twice, and Ava Chapman produced the lone RBI for the hosts (15-9).

Stevens, Matanzas' junior pitching ace, struck out a dozen Dolphins and allowed just three hits. The Pirates finish the season with a 19-5 record.

Lake Brantley 13, University 3

Lake Brantley jumped on the Titans with four runs in the opening frame and scored five times in the fifth to clinch a mercy-rule victory in a first-round Region 1-7A showdown.

Kayla Morris had two doubles and five RBIs for Lake Brantley (17-8), and freshman McKaelyn Fowler reached base in all four of her plate appearances with three runs scored.

Leiauna Speegle recorded a RBI double for University (14-12-1), Mia Fisher drove in a run and Jacquelyn Lara went 1 for 2 with a run scored.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school softball: Spruce Creek advances in FHSAA regional playoffs