PREP ROUNDUP: Lakewood Ranch shades Venice, 1-0, for district title
LAKEWOOD RANCH — Ella Dodge was not part of the Lakewood Ranch High softball team’s march to its first state title last season.
Dodge was injured during her freshman season with the Mustangs.
This year, a healthy Dodge is doing everything in her power to help Lakewood Ranch’s bid for back-to-back championships.
The right-hander threw a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in the Class 7A-District 8 championship game, as the Mustangs blanked Venice High, 1-0, Thursday night at Lakewood Ranch High.
Called upon to be the No. 1 starter for the top-ranked team in the state, Dodge has more than lived up to her billing.
“I’ve gotten better since the beginning of this season,” she said. “Definitely levels and location of pitches, just hitting my spots more consistently. I’ve been working on heights of the ball and parts of the plate, things like that.”
“She’s on an upward trajectory, there’s no question about it,” Lakewood Ranch coach T.J. Goelz said. “You could see her confidence. She’s making big pitches.
“We saw her makeup as a freshman, even though she didn’t get to pitch.”
Facing Venice in the first meeting of the season between the teams, Dodge just tried to pitch her game.
“We knew a little bit about them because we played them last year,” Dodge said. “We were just doing our thing.”
“We told her to go right at them, attack them, use our defense,” Goelz said.
“Ella Dodge, to her credit, she’s as good as they talk about,” Venice coach Steve Constantino said.
Layne Preece, a sophomore opposing Dodge, was equally impressive. The right-hander surrendered seven hits, two in the second inning when the Mustangs scored the only run of the game.
Ella Coiner opened the inning with a single, stole second, went to third base on a wild pitch and then scored on a two-out hit by Amanda Lee.
“They play travel ball with Amanda Lee and they know her,” Constantino said of his players. “If there is one kid that shouldn’t have gotten the hit it was Amanda Lee. But she is a great hitter.”
Sydney McCray and Kelsey Vogel had two hits out of the leadoff and No. 3 spots in the Lakewood Ranch lineup.
“I thought we would score a few more runs than we did,” Goelz said. “I knew they had a good, young pitcher. That kid did a really nice job.”
The one run was the second-lowest output of the season to only the shutout by Lake Brantley on March 2.
“I tip my hat to that kid,” Goelz said of Preece. “She did a nice job. We had a couple of well-hit balls, too, but she spread them out really nice and didn’t walk us. We had to earn it.”
“Layne was awesome,” Constantino said. “Layne has been awesome all year.”
Winning the district championship “means a lot to us because we’ve been working really hard,” Dodge said. “We’ve been seeing it in our results and we’re really proud of ourselves. We’ve got to continue to keep working and keep getting better and not settling for anything.”
Constantino was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We played our best nights in the most meaningful games,” he said of a team that returned three starters from a 24-5 team a year ago. “The thing I’ve found out about these kids is they bring it on the most meaningful nights.
Venice takeaways
• Constantino figured his team needed six or seven base runners to win the game. It had two, a two-out single in the first inning and a one-out infield hit in the fourth, both by No. 3 hitter Micaela Hartman.
• Constantino was impressed with the pitching matchup. “That’s what is supposed to happen when you have the two best pitchers in the area, right?” he said.
• Venice (19-3) used the game against Lakewood Ranch as an exploratory mission. “You’ve only got to beat them once, and it’s not tonight,” Constantino said. “This game is to find out what we have to do to beat them. What we have to do is we’ve got to put the bat on the ball more. That’s it. That’s all we have to change.”
Lakewood Ranch takeaways
• Dodge’s 10 strikeouts came in spurts. She fanned four straight, two to end the second inning and two to begin the third. Then, Dodge notched six straight strikeouts from the final out in the fourth inning, the side in the fifth and the first two in the sixth.
• Lee also had the game-winning hit at Newsome High last year, knocking in both runs in the fourth inning in a 2-0 victory over the top-seeded Wolves. Lee lined the first pitch she saw to center field to scored Coiner. “It’s great to see your eight hitter come through,” Goelz said. “Some kids have ice in their veins. Amanda Lee just steadily does that stuff for us. She’s a nice mature player. Kind of like Ella Dodge: ice in her veins, give me that moment and I’ll get it done for you coach. ”
• The district title guarantees the Mustangs (25-2) will be home as long as they are alive throughout the regionals. “We love playing here,” Goelz said after his team improved to 13-1 at home and stretched their winning streak to 16 games. “We’ve got a pretty good record at our home field. There’s advantages in that: You don’t have to get on a bus, you don’t have to change your routine, the girls get to eat their favorite meal before the game, they can take a nap after school. Whatever it is, it’s nice to be on your home field and have a lot of familiarity with our usual warm up.”
SOFTBALL
Sarasota 11, Riverdale 1 (6 innings)
CLASS 6A-DISTRICT 8
AT: Sarasota High.
TOP PLAYERS: S, Carley Ramsden (2-4, 2 runs), Jaydan Baker (2-3, 2 runs), Brooke Bendel (2-4, 2 runs, 4RBI), Abbey Johns (2-4, 2 runs).
PITCHING: S, Ryleigh Bennett (6IP, 4H, 1R-0ER, BB, 8K).
Parrish Community 2, Calvary Christian 1
Class 3A-District 11
AT: Parrish Community
PITCHING: PC, Isa Vega (7 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 10 Ks)
OF NOTE: Parrish Community scored two runs in the sixth inning to break open a scoreless game. … The Bulls did not get a hit in the game against Morgan Talley, who struck out 10 and walked four.
Bishop Verot 4, Lemon Bay 3
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 12
AT: Bishop Verot, Fort Myers.
TOP PLAYERS: LB: Madison Kinkade (3-4, 2B), Haley Gulsby (2-3, 2B, run), Kendall Bennett (1-3, 2B, 2 RBI), Ella Kraszewski (1-4, 2B, run, RBI).
PITCHING: LB, Ella Kraszewski (5IP, 4H, 4R-0ER, 3BB, 4K), Mackenzie Vaughan (1IP).
BASEBALL
Out-of-Door 4, Bradenton Christian 0
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11
AT: Out-of-Door Academy, Sarasota.
TOP PLAYER: ODA, Ryan Morhmann (1-2, 2 RBI).
PITCHING: ODA, Josh Cone (W, 6IP, 10 Ks).
Cardinal Mooney 3, Bishop Verot 2
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 8
AT: Bishop Verot High, Fort Myers.
TOP PLAYERS: CM, Paddy Hebda (2-3, HR, RBI), Drew Marra (2-3, 2B, RBI).
PITCHING: CM, Drew Marra (3IP, 2H, ER, 2K).
OF NOTE: Cardinal Mooney's Alex Santa Maria scored in the first on an error. … The Cougars scored again in the fourth on a solo home run by Paddy Hebda. … Verot answered with one run in the bottom of the fourth. ... Mooney scored again in the sixth on a fielder’s choice. … The Vikings got a run in the bottom of the seventh before Eddie Zaun finished off the next three batters, earning the save.
Sumner 6, Braden River 4 (8 innings)
CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 7
AT: Braden River High, Bradenton.
TOP PLAYERS: BR, Joe Pericozzi (1-3, run), Nick Kemker (1-1, 2B, RBI).
PITCHING: BR, Cesar Valera (4.1IP, 7H, 4R-3ER, 2BB, 7K), Andrew Nordland (3.1IP, 4H, 2R-0ER, 2BB, 3K).
Riverview 8, Sarasota 5
CLASS 7A-DISTRICT 8
AT: Suncoast Technical College, Sarasota
TOP PLAYERS: R, Dylan Wilds (2-4, 2RBI, R), Pip Smalley (2B, 2RBI); S, Lance Trippel (2B RBI), Juan Perez (2B, 2RBI).
PITCHING: R, Austin Harford (4IP, 5H, 4R, BB, K), Sameon Klanot (3IP, H, run, 2BB, K); S, Luke Jackson (2IP, H, 4R-1ER, 3BB, K), Brandon Jung (5IP, 4H, 4R-1ER, 2BB, 5K).
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 shades Venice, 1-0, for district title
