SOFTBALL
+ Lady Cougars claim district title
The fans at Brandon High almost saw both high seeds get knocked out in a pair of softball district semifinal games, but Plant City scraped its way into the championship game. Strawberry Crest, on the other hand, was shocked by Durant.
The Lady Raiders held a 1-0 lead for much of their semifinal game, but East Bay’s offense came on late and nearly forced extra innings. A walk-off triple gave Plant City the 5-4 win.
Durant upset Strawberry Crest, 10-6, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggests. The Lady Cougars survived a shaky sixth inning, coming out with a one-run lead, but caught fire in the top seventh to win.
In the championship game, Durant was all business. The Lady Cougars shellacked the Lady Raiders, 11-0, in just five innings of play to win the district title.
BASEBALL
+ Raiders fall, Crest survives in districts
Where the East Bay Lady Indians couldn’t succeed last week, the boys did.
Despite walking into Durant High School’s field as an underdog, they beat Plant City High School, 5-3, in the first round of districts. The Indians took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning, when the Raiders put a run on the board. Plant City did the rest of its damage in the bottom sixth, scoring two, but East Bay’s pitching allowed no wiggle room in the seventh.
Immediately afterward, Strawberry Crest rode sophomore Matthew Trzeciak’s solid pitching to a 4-2 win over Tampa Bay Tech.
LACROSSE
+ Durant’s Seguin among stat leaders
Junior long stick middle Robert Seguin ended up making the boys’ national leaderboards in several stats, according to MaxPreps.com.
Seguin is currently fifth in the nation in ground balls fielded (133), among all positions, and is first in assists (24), second in points (41), fourth in face-off percentage (.656) and sixth in goals scored (17).
FOOTBALL
+ Nighthawks getting noticed
Some of Plant City’s most talented football players have been grinding hard in the offseason.
Playing in an IMG-sponsored 7-on-7 tournament in Tallahassee on the weekend of April 12, the Next Level Sports Academe Nighthawks posted a 4-1 record and earned a chance to make the IMG National Championship game.
First, they have to perform well in The Challenge 7-on-7 National Championship Qualifier April 26, in Tampa. The top two teams qualify for the championship.