Softball: Fort Meade ousts Lakeland Christian; Lake Wales wins in 1st round of playoffs
FORT MEADE — Wednesday night’s Class 2A, Region 3 quarterfinal softball game between Fort Meade and Lakeland Christian didn’t lack drama.
By the time Gracie Taylor’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning plated Kenya Faulk for a 5-4 Miners win, both teams had been through the wringer of emotions.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Fort Meade head coach Eric Grace said. “The girls were built for this moment. I think our schedule set us up for games like this. They came out and did what they needed to do to win the game.”
District tournaments: 5 Polk County teams took district titles in baseball and softball. See the results here.
For Fort Meade (18-8) that involved surviving an early 2-0 deficit, and then gathering itself to rally from a two-out, two-run, seventh-inning rally by Lakeland Christian (15-5) to send it to extra innings.
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the seventh, Lakeland Christian got a leadoff walk from Riley Merritt, who then stole second to put the tying run at the plate. McKenna Gravitt then hit an infield single to shortstop that was mishandled by first baseman Cailynn Johnson. Gravitt made the turn for second as Johnson was gathering the ball and was tagged out. Meritt tried to score from second base during the play but was tagged out at home for a 6-3-2 double play.
The Vikings had one rally left in them thanks to a couple of Miners miscues.
Both Ella Gordon and Allie Williams reached base on passed ball strikeouts and then advanced on an error by Johnson as she fielded a hurried throw from the catcher.
That set the stage for Paityn Donalson’s infield RBI single to plate Gordon and Williams, who never stopped on the play and barely beat the tag home to tie the game.
Lakeland Christian’s euphoria was short-lived when Taylor ended the game in the Miners’ half of the eighth.
Johnson was the focal point of another key part of the game as well.
Trailing 2-0, Johnson stepped to the plate after LCS decided to intentionally walk Marleigh Carroll to load the bases.
Johnson made the Vikings pay for that decision by clobbering a grand slam over the left field fence to make it 4-2 for the Miners.
“I told her to do what she always does,” Grace said. “She got up there, she got her pitch and she did it.”
Fort Meade will now look to advance past the regional semifinals for the first time in school history after winning its first ever district championship.
The Miners will have to upend the region’s top seed Evangelical Christian (23-2) on Tuesday on the road to make more team history.
4A-2: Lake Wales knocks off Vanguard
Shortstop Jamie Sepsick had two hits and drove in two runs, and Anna Conroy hurled a four-hitter to lead Lake Wales to a 6-2 victory over Ocala Vanguard in the 4A-2 regional quarterfinals.
Sepsick's two-run single with one out in the first spotted Lake Wales a two-run lead and the Highanders never trailed.
Conroy shut out Vanguard through five innings before allowing two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Lake Wales answered with two runs in the top of the seventh.
Lake Wales will play top-seeded Eustis on Tuesday in the semifinals.
4A-2: Lake Region routs Citrus
Leading by a run, Lake Region scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning then pulled away with four runs in the fifth inning to defeat Citrus, 10-3, in the regional quarterfinals.
The Thunder outhit Citrus, 12-3, as Kailyn Reeder did not allow an earned run and struck out four.
Elisa Charles had three hits and an RBI, and Savannah Ford singled and drove in two runs. Camryn Fail and Makenna Meadows also had a pair of hits.
Lake Region will play host to Eau Gallie on Tuesday in the regionals semifinals.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade, Lake Wales among 1st round playoff winners in softball
