Vero girls lacrosse rolls to regional semis, Vero boys, Okeechobee girls tennis advance

VERO BEACH — If Vero Beach's girls lacrosse team is to win their first state title in eight years, secondary scoring will be paramount behind Division-I bound stars Alexa Vega and Kerrigan Gilmore.

In their 14-2 victory over Winter Park in Tuesday's Region 2-2A quarterfinal, while Vega, a Stony Brook signee, led the way with four goals, sophomore Erin Dermody had three goals, classmate Addison Parris added two and freshman Savina Magaro also netted two goals for Vero Beach.

The result was never in question Tuesday as Vega picked up her hat trick within the game's first five and a half minutes as Vero Beach led 10-1 at halftime.

Rotating many players throughout the night, Vero Beach's rare roster build with only five upperclassmen has overcome growing pains from early in the season with several young players that have been counted on to produce in big spots.

Vero Beach head coach Shannon Dean has noted the work that Parris and fellow sophomore Jazmyn Morris, who scored one goal and dominated the center circle on draw controls all game, have done to make the team more dynamic and not so reliant on Vega and Gilmore to lead the way all the time.

"They were ones we knew that had to step up as the season progressed and we were hoping they would and they both have," Dean said. "Not only with both on draw controls because they're big and physical but on offense, they have stepped it up and I think they're right in that 3-5 number on the team in all categories. That's all I can ask of them."

Next up for Vero Beach will be a regional semifinal at home on Tuesday, April 25 against fifth seed Lake Howell, who knocked off fourth seed Windermere 11-7 Tuesday night.

Also in 2A quarterfinal action, Martin County was defeated by second seed Jupiter 21-6 that ends the Tigers season with a record of 6-10.

Tennis regional quarterfinals

Tuesday was a strong day for the Vero Beach boys and Okeechobee girls tennis teams as both won regional quarterfinal matches at home to move on in the state playoffs.

Vero Beach won 4-0 over Windermere in Region 3-4A as Bo Johnson at No. 2 singles won his match 6-1, 6-1 and Mac Johnson at No. 4 singles also won his match 6-1, 6-1.

Vero Beach, who will travel to play Lake Nona in the regional semifinals on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., swept both doubles matches as Mason Cisco and Bo Johnson won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 and Figge Pernfors and Mac Johnson won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2.

For Okeechobee, it was a clean sweep of the singles lineup for the Brahmans in their 5-0 win over Lake Buena Vista in Region 4-3A.

Isabella Derigo won at No. 1 singles 6-2, 4-6 (10-5), Kiersten Sales won at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-3, Tori Trent won at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-1, Lily Cobb at No. 4 singles won 6-0, 6-1 and Hannah Williams won 6-4, 2-6 (10-8) at No. 5 for Okeechobee, who will travel to play Gateway on Thursday.

All other area teams were eliminated Tuesday as Martin County’s girls lost 4-1 to Windermere in Region 3-4A, South Fork’s boys lost 5-2 to Horizon in Region 4-3A, South Fork’s girls lost 7-0 to Gateway in Region 3-4A, Sebastian River’s boys lost 4-0 to Lake Buena Vista also in Region 4-3A and Master’s Academy’s girls lost 4-2 to Florida Prep in Region 2-1A.

Flag Football

District 10-2A

(1) Martin County 12, (8) Treasure Coast 0

(2) Fort Pierce Central 12, (7) Dwyer 6

(4) Vero Beach 31, (5) South Fork 7

(3) Jupiter 19, (6) Centennial 0

District 11-1A

(1) Lincoln Park Academy 13, (4) Sebring 12

(3) Fort Pierce Westwood 20, (2) John Carroll Catholic 14

District 12-1A

(1) Suncoast 12, (4) Jensen Beach 7

Baseball

Vero Beach 4, Jensen Beach 2: Bryce Holshouser struck out six in 6⅔ innings, allowing two runs and Chase Wilson had a go-ahead two-run double in a three-run sixth inning as Vero (15-1) snapped Jensen Beach’s 12-game winning streak.

Chris Knier had an RBI double and Connor Cantillo had an RBI single in the fourth inning to account for both of the runs on the night at the plate and Jake Breen struck out five in 5⅓ innings for the Falcons (13-6).

John Carroll Catholic 4, Treasure Coast 1: Taggert Cameron struck out six in six hitless innings of relief as the Rams (13-9) scored four runs in the fifth inning to earn the win. Jake Rychter had a two-run single, Tracen Cameron went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Matt Correa had a double and reached base four times for John Carroll Catholic.

Nicholas Stagg went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI in the loss for the Titans (7-13).

Softball

South Fork 2, Jensen Beach 0: Katie Kidwell struck out 15 in a one-hit shutout as the Bulldogs (11-4-1) scored two first inning runs that held up to earn the victory. Emma Ortiz went 2-for-2 and scored a run and Abby Tango and Alice Dewaters each had one hit for South Fork.

Mallory Wheeler struck out 13 in a complete-game effort and allowed four hits in the loss for the Falcons (11-7).

John Carroll Catholic 10, Cardinal Newman 0 (6 innings): Sophia Loreto struck out eight in a one-hit shutout in the circle and Sammi Rychter went 4-for-4 with a double and drove in two runs to lead the way for the Rams (15-6). Mikale Lemons had two doubles and scored two runs for John Carroll Catholic.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach girls lacrosse, Vero boys, Okeechobee girls tennis advance