PREP ROUNDUP: Lakewood Ranch falls again to Lake Brantley in softball
LAKEWOOD RANCH — In the past two days, the Altamonte Springs Lake Brantley softball team proved it could defeat Lakewood Ranch High both at home and on the road while playing from ahead or coming from behind.
The Mustangs dropped their second straight game of the season, this time in a much more competitive game against the Patriots, 5-3, Thursday night at Lakewood Ranch High.
Wednesday in Altamonte Springs, the Patriots rolled past the Mustangs, 11-0, in six innings.
“It means we’ve got to take a look in the mirror, and like we tell them all the time, we’ve got to keep getting better,” Lakewood Ranch coach T.J. Goelz said.
Goelz said Wednesday’s loss was disturbing, but he saw his team bounce back with three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run double by Taylor Shephard and a RBI double by Ella Coiner.
“We told them to flush (Wednesday),” Goelz said. “That was like a perfect storm ... everything that could go wrong went wrong.”
Thursday, though, Lake Brantley (9-0) kept chipping away, scoring single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.
When they got even, the Patriots turned to ace Hannah Marien, who limited the Mustangs to two hits during the final four innings. Marien threw a three-hit shutout with four walks and six strikeouts Wednesday.
“We scheduled one of the top pitchers in the state for a reason,” Goelz said. “This is basically a state playoff game, a regional final or State Final 4 playoff game at the end of March. We’re trying to win the last game of the season. This right here tells us a lot of what we have to do.”
Goelz knew if Lakewood Ranch (9-2) did not stretch the lead, Marien would be coming in to pitch in relief.
“We definitely hit her better (Thursday),” Goelz said. “We hit a lot of balls right at people tonight. They made some great plays, they executed things when they had to.”
The games were not scheduled to be back-to-back. The teams looked to play at the outset of the season, but a scheduling conflict prevented it.
“We both felt we wanted to see where we were at this time of year,” Lake Brantley coach Jacob Stanley said. “We won against a great softball team, a great coaching staff and a proven team with a great reputation. It feels good, but there’s still a lot of work to do. It feels good. We’re going to enjoy it. But it’s still March.”
“Right now I tip my hat to them. Right now they are a better team than us,” Goelz said of the Patriots. “We’re not trying to be the champions of March. We’re trying to win the last game of the season. We’re going to learn a lot from this right here. They’re gonna have to figure out some things they have to do better and we have to learn to hit that kind of pitching.”
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Lakewood Ranch heads to face another undefeated team a little closer to home, when it visits Parrish Community School.
Lakewood Ranch takeaways
• Ella Dodge started and finished the game in the circle for the Mustangs. She pitched the first 4⅔ innings before giving way to Ella Coiner, who gave up a run in 1⅓ innings. Dodge got the final three outs. She permitted four runs on 10 hits.
• Ranked third in the country, second in Florida behind only Bartow, and first in Class 7A by MaxPreps coming in, Lakewood Ranch played some solid defense of its own. Right fielder Sydney McCray used her speed to track down two balls in right field. Grace Shaw-Rockey made a defensive gem in left field.
• Since 2018, Lakewood Ranch is 101-10. Of those 10 losses, six are by one run. Wednesday’s shutout was the first since the 2019 State Final against Winter Springs.
Lake Brantley takeaways
• Coming off a 14-hit effort Wednesday, the Patriots had a hit in all seven innings on Thursday.
• Except for a first-inning error that led to Lakewood Ranch’s three runs, Lake Brantley was sound defensively, getting a pair of outstanding plays from center fielder Jaiden Griffith.
• The Patriots are ranked fifth in Florida and second in 7A behind Lakewood Ranch, according to MaxPreps.
Lemon Bay 15,
Port Charlotte Comm. Christian 0
AT: Lemon Bay High, Englewood.
TOP PLAYERS: LB, Haley Hulsby (2-3, HR, 4RBI, R), Ella Kraszewski (3-4, 2R), Madison Kinkade (2-2, 2B, 2R, 2RBI), Abby Matheny (2-2, 3B, 2R, RBI).
PITCHING: LB, Mackenzie Vaughan (4IP, 1BB, 10 Ks).
OF NOTE: Vaughan pitched a four inning no-hitter. The game was called after four innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Venice 4, Charlotte 3
AT: Charlotte High, Punta Gorda.
TOP PLAYERS: V, Bailee Riggins (2-3, RBI), Karsyn Rutherford (1-3, 2B, R); C, Alexandria Fitzgerald (3-4, R, RBI).
PITCHING: V, Layne Preece (3.2IP, 6H, 2R, 1BB, 6K), Karsyn Rutherford (3.1IP, 3H, 1R-0ER).
BASEBALL
Cardinal Mooney 10
Imagine School at North Port 0
TOP PLAYERS: CM, Landen Jensen (2-4, 2RBI), Paddy Hebda (2-2, 2B, RBI), Chase Ferlise (1-2, 2 RBI); INP, H Call (1-3, 2B).
RECORD: Cardinal Mooney (5-6).
NEXT: Palmetto at Cardinal Mooney, 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Sarasota Christian 11,
Community Christian 5
AT: Port Charlotte Community Christian.
TOP PLAYERS: Brian Hershberger (1H, 3RBI), Alex Hefti (1H, 1RBI, 2SB), Randall Collins (2H, 1 RBI, 1SB).
PITCHING: Alex Hefti (2IP, 4K, 0R), Randall Collins (2H, 1 RBI, 1SB).
RECORDS: Sarasota Christian (6-2); Port Charlotte Community (0-6).
UP NEXT: Sarasota at Admiral Farragut 4:30 p.m.
BOYS LACROSSE
Saint Stephen's Episcopal 13,
St. Pete Northside Christian 2
AT: Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School, Bradenton.
TOP PLAYERS: SS, Justin Millican (3 goals, 5 assists, 5 ground balls), Dutch Anderson (3 goals, assist), Matt Vara (2 goals, assist, 8 ground balls), Joey Doge (2 goals) Will DePranger (goal, assist), Mason Dillingham (goal, assist).
GOALIE: SS, Nick Pagnotta (12 saves).
OF NOTE: Nine of the Falcons' 13 goals were assisted. … Dutch Anderson scored his first varsity points.
RECORDS: Saint Stephen’s (8-2).
NEXT: Saint Stephen's at Admiral Farragut on April 5.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Community School of Naples 18, Cardinal Mooney 4
AT: Community School of Naples.
TOP PLAYERS: CM, Morgan Costallos (goal, 2 assists, 3 draw controls), Taylor Daly (goal, 4 draw controls).
GOALIE: CM, Lily Vanderpol (7 saves 27%).
RECORD: Cardinal Mooney (3-7).
NEXT: Canterbury at Cardinal Mooney, 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Riverview 21, Canterbury 6
AT: Riverview High.
TOP PLAYERS: R, Susan Lowther (6 goals, assist, 4 draw controls, 5 ground balls), Chloe Hackl (5 goals, assist, 5 ground balls), Caroline Steinwachs (4 goals, assist, 7 draw controls, 2 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers).
RECORD: Riverview (8-4).
NEXT: Riverview vs. Steinbrenner and Community School of Naples, Saturday at CSN.
GIRLS TENNIS
Charlotte 5, DeSoto 2
SINGLES — Sophia Bender (C) def. Michaela Zolkos 4-2, 5-3, Halayna Roberson (C) def. Abby Zolkos 5-3, 4-1, Kendall Carrico (C) def. Lauren McCray 4-1, 4-2; Sophia Clancey (C) def Briana Robles 4-0, 4-0; Kaelyn Carrico (C) def Emily Evand 4-0, 4-2.
DOUBLES — Michaela Zolkos / Abby Zolkos def. Sophia Bender / Halayna Roberson 8-0; Lauren McCray / Briana Robles def. Kendall Carrico / Sophia Clancey 8-2.
RECORD: Charlotte (4-3).
NEXT: North Port at Charlotte on Tuesday
Dennis Maffezzoli is the deputy sports editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and chief reporter for Sarasota Herald-Tribune and HTpreps covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: PREP ROUNDUP: Lakewood Ranch falls again to Lake Brantley in softball
