Vero Beach beach volleyball back to state, Centennial softball wins District 11-7A title

Vero Beach's beach volleyball team will get a shot at redemption as they defeated Jupiter 3-1 in Wednesday's Region 7 championship match to earn a return trip back to the state tournament.

Last season, Vero Beach in the first year for the sport being sanctioned by the FHSAA finished as the state runner-up to New Smyrna Beach.

To get back to compete in Tallahassee at Florida State University, Vero took out West Boca Raton Tuesday in the semifinals with a 5-0 sweep but found Wednesday a challenge facing the same Warriors they defeated in the District 25 championship 3-1 last week.

The two teams split the matches at the No. 4 and 5 spots in the lineup with Vero Beach's Belle Leatherman and Marie Mazzarrella winning at the No. 4 spot 22-20, 19-21, 15-12 to lead off Wednesday's winner-take-all battle.

Vero Beach's No. 1 partnership of Cypress Reinecke and Ava Lilliquist (21-13, 21-9) and No. 2 partnership of Katy Daton and Aracelys Sanchez took care of their matches for the deciding margin for Vero Beach.

The remainder of the regional championship matches for the rest of the state will be completed later in the week and Vero Beach will compete in the first round of the state championship on Friday, May 12.

Softball

District 11-7A

(1) Centennial 4, (2) Treasure Coast 3 (8 innings)

Carmela Baker's walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning completed a comeback for the Eagles (14-7), who won their first district title in 21 years.

Treasure Coast plated three runs in the third inning fueled by three walks and two Centennial errors to take a 3-0 lead but the Eagles had an instant response.

A double by Autumn Prakash turned into two runs for Centennial as a throwing error allowed Prakash and Myrna Pratt to score.

Hailey Brereton for Centennial and Brylea Rusler for Treasure Coast traded zeroes in the circle until the sixth inning as the Eagles found a way to tie the game.

A leadoff double from Keyhara Alleyne set the table as a sacrifice bunt from Amia Stone sent Alleyne to third and an RBI groundout from Alexandria Lee made it a 3-3 game going to the seventh inning.

Brereton stranded a runner in scoring position with a pair of strikeouts in the top of the seventh for Centennial and Treasure Coast reliever Alexa Bethel was helped by her catcher Kennedy Moody cutting down Pratt trying to steal third with one out in the bottom of the seventh as the two teams went to extra innings.

The Titans (9-13) again got a runner to second base in the eighth but Brereton picked up her 14th strikeout of the game to again give her team a chance to win.

Centennial drew a pair of walks off Bethel to lead off the bottom of the eighth and would eventually have the bases loaded with one out before Lee struck out.

Baker's line drive to right center field found grass to send the Eagles home winners on Treasure Coast's home field.

Centennial will await to see who they will play in the regional quarterfinals Friday with the FHSAA releasing the state brackets during the afternoon for both softball and baseball.

Flag Football

Region 3-2A

(4) Spanish River 32, (8) Fort Pierce Central 14: Trailing 19-7 at halftime, the Cobras (12-8) couldn't find the magic in the regional semifinals on the road as Fort Pierce Central's season came to an end.

Whitney D'Haiti caught both touchdown passes from Adrienne Rivera to account for all the offense on the night for the Cobras.

Region 3-1A

(3) Mainland 35, (2) Lincoln Park Academy 14: A 28-point explosion in the second quarter fueled by its defense sent the Buccaneers (13-5) to the Region 3-1A championship game.

Mainland's secondary had a first half to remember as they intercepted Lincoln Park Academy quarterback Leah Murphy four times, with two takeaways in each quarter.

Kamryn Williamson and Ava Colubiale had first quarter interceptions and the Buccaneers were able to cash in Colubiale's takeaway to begin the second quarter.

On fourth down, Colubiale called her own number from the 1-yard line as she reached the ball across the goal line to give Mainland a 6-0 lead.

After a safety gave the Buccaneers an 8-0 lead, Mainland pounced as Colubiale hit Williamson on a touchdown connection to make it 14-0 and Williamson made another big play shortly after.

The senior came away with her second interception of the game and on a heads up play lateraled the ball back to teammate Kiera Williams, who ran 35 yards for a touchdown.

Another heads up play by a Mainland defender made it 28-0 as Kassie Stoner perfectly read a Fort Pierce Westwood lateral attempt as the senior stepped in front of a pitch back and strolled in for a touchdown.

Stoner would add a touchdown catch from Colubiale for Mainland, who will host Somerset Academy-Canyons, who defeated Fort Pierce Westwood 19-6 in the other semifinal, in the regional final on Monday, May 8.

Murphy threw second-half touchdown passes to Reese Williams and Lahela Cornett for the Greyhounds (13-3).

(8) Somerset Academy-Canyons 19, (4) Fort Pierce Westwood 6: Eighth grader Delanie Doty stole the show Wednesday night scoring having a hand in all three touchdowns on the night to lead the Cougars to the Region 3-1A title game.

Fellow eight grader Ava Wotipka found Doty on a fourth down scramble play, hitting her classmate with a touchdown pass that gave Somerset Academy a first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, Doty stepped in front of a Fort Pierce Westwood pass from Jihla Greer over the middle and returned the ball 35 yards for a touchdown that gave the Cougars (15-5) a 12-0 halftime lead.

The Panthers (10-4) got a big play to begin the third quarter as Greer and Velise Destile connected on a long pass play deep in Cougar territory and Greer found Daynicha Celisca on a short touchdown pass to make it a 12-6 game.

On the next play from scrimmage, Ruth Romain picked off a pass from Wotipka to set up Fort Pierce Westwood with a short field and on fourth down, Destile nearly came up with a spectacular touchdown catch in the back of the end zone but couldn't control the ball falling to the ground.

Early in the fourth quarter, on a fourth down play, Wotipka made a tough throw to senior Olivia Kweskin, who broke a tackle and got the yardage for a first down that proved critical.

Two plays later, Wotipka hit Doty in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown that effectively put the game out of reach for the Panthers.

Ana Gutierrez and Brianna Stockhausen had fourth quarter interceptions for Somerset Academy-Canyons, who will travel to play third seed Mainland in the regional final on Monday, May 8.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero beach volleyball back to state, Centennial softball wins district