Baseball and softball — Florida’s king and queen of spring sports — are going into playoff mode. As it’s time for the district tournaments, this is the chance for fans of all three area teams to catch their favorite high schoolers in postseason action.
So, what is there to know about these boys and girls?
SOFTBALL
The softball tournament has already begun at Durant High, and local fans likely won’t want to miss the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday, April 17.
The top two seeds in the district, Plant City and Strawberry Crest, have enjoyed successful seasons while dealing with new challenges.
The Lady Raiders (14-11; 8-2 district), under first-time head coach Ashley Bullion, haven’t shown a great deal of regression from last year’s district runner-up squad. They weren’t able to match the 17-6 regular-season record from 2014, but only lost one more district game than that team. And its not-so-secret weapon, sophomore Edmilly Molina, has had a monster season at the plate: a .493 batting average with 30 RBI, 26 runs, six triples, four doubles and two homers, plus eight stolen bases. She leads the team in each of these categories.
Update: Plant City and East Bay will face each other for the district championship tonight at Durant High School.
The Lady Chargers (15-7; 8-2 district) got off to an unusually shaky start, losing six of their first seven games. Since then, they’ve won 13 out of 14 contests. Strawberry Crest doesn’t have another Mia Fung or Cacey Simmons-level star on the roster, so it’s safe to say this resurgence has been a total team effort. Eight of the 11 batters with at least 20 at-bats are hitting over .300, and the only ones with double-digit RBI totals are juniors Kaylan Kelly (13) and Rebecca Roberts (11). Junior Scottie Todd leads all area pitchers with a 1.66 ERA and 90 strikeouts.
The Lady Cougars (7-17; 5-5 district), last year’s underdog success story, have had a down year since winning the championship. The team did manage to split its series with Plant City, but couldn’t overcome matchups with Strawberry Crest or East Bay. There have been a few bright spots, most notably with a pair of junior sluggers: Madison Farrell and Selena Bezares. They have been two of the area’s best players this season. Farrell leads the team with a .500 average, 23 runs and nine doubles, and also has 25 RBI. Bezares leads the team with 26 RBI, and has a .392 average with 17 runs and seven doubles. Both players have hit five home runs and one triple.
BASEBALL
Baseball action begins at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, at Brandon High School. On April 24, one or more of the Plant City-area teams may be competing for the district crown.
Durant (15-6; 10-0 district) has been its usual, dominant self in 2015. Perhaps the most frightening stat about this Cougars team is that, even though it took several losses in March, it hasn’t allowed a run in a district game since Feb. 27, a 13-2 win at Strawberry Crest. They scored 26 runs over those six games. The offense may not be as potent as last year’s senior-heavy attack, but solid pitching has kept Durant on top of things in most games. Sophomore Jonah Scolaro (1.40 ERA, 63 K, 8 ER) and senior Bryce Gainer (1.79 ERA, 51 K, 10 ER) anchor a deep rotation with two sub-1.00 ERA relievers in Drew Bradley (0.58) and Zach Barfield (0.91).
Strawberry Crest (15-8; 6-4 district) has the second-highest winning percentage of all district teams, but its 6-4 district record has the team in third place in the standings. This team’s production is right on par with last year’s squad, save for two big stats: the number of stolen bases is down from 67 to 36, and the team ERA has gotten down from 2.12 to 1.79. Much has been written about staff ace Mark Moclair, one of the best pitchers in Hillsborough County, but freshman Damien Torres has also been throwing well. The reliever has a 1.12 ERA with 19 strikeouts, and the Chargers have allowed just seven total runs whenever he’s been out there.
Plant City (10-10; 4-6 district) didn’t look so hot in the beginning of the season. But whatever they’ve been doing lately has been working, as the team’s won seven of its last 10 games and three of the last four by no less than four runs. The team couldn’t have picked a better time to tighten up and play good baseball. Senior Connor Slagill, possibly the best batter in the area, leads the team with a .343 average, 20 RBI and five doubles. Sawyer Dawson, who missed a large part of his junior season, has been able to stay healthy and produce with a .333 average, 17 RBI and three doubles. Staff “co-aces” Ryan Boyd and Billy McKay both have ERAs under 1.60, and McKay has established himself as one of the top relievers in the area with his 58 strikeouts over a team-leading 13 appearances.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
THE OTHER GUYS
Here’s the scoop on the other teams in the baseball tournament:
Brandon (14-6; 7-3 district) would be top dog if not for Durant, and boasts a solid group of hitters led by senior Drayden Williams. But the real star of the show is junior ace Antonio Velez, who has earned every bit of his reputation as a strikeout machine. He has 95 this season and will almost certainly eclipse 100 during the tournament. The Eagles swept Strawberry Crest, but split with Plant City and were swept by Durant.
Tampa Bay Tech (4-15; 2-8 district) swept East Bay in district play, but were swept by every other team. The Titans have no problem hitting for average. They’re batting .427 as a team, but have issues leaving runners stranded on base. None of the pitchers have an ERA below 2.95 or more than 12 strikeouts.
East Bay (3-17; 1-9 district) picked up its lone district win of the season against Plant City, a 7-5 win March 19. No individual statistics are available for the Indians.