BROOKSVILLE – Nature Coast and Abbey Primavera had just completed another night at the office Tuesday night, walking off the softball diamond with another notch in the win column.
The Lady Sharks moved to 9-0 on the season behind a 10-0 victory over visiting county-rival Hernando, also a Class 5A, District 7 foe.
Primavera (7-0) tossed another shutout, the junior scattering five singles and two walks while striking out seven across six innings of work.
“I think I did good. I had two walks, those are the first two walks I’ve had in one game. It was a little annoying, but I pulled through,” Primavera said. “We know what everybody’s bringing and we know what we need to do. We’re working hard and we’re doing what we need to do.”
In her six previous starts, four of them shutouts, Primavera had posted a 0.55 earned run average, throwing 38 innings and giving up 23 hits, two walks and one hit batter. She had struck out 38.
“She’s done a real good job,” Nature Coast head coach Jug Olmstead said. “She just has to make sure that she’s on top of everything on every pitch. She has a tendency to take pitches off here and there. You can’t do that. Especially against quality teams, you’re going to get hurt.
“She’s got true grit in the circle. She’s got a game face and she knows how to persevere through tight situations. She does a good job. She’s a gamer.”
She’s also been one of Nature Coast’s best players at the plate, hitting .476 with three doubles and 10 runs batted in. She went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk versus the Lady Leopards.
Not that any of this is new turf for Primavera, now in her third varsity campaign. She went 12-4 with a 2.03 ERA as a freshman, then 14-5 with a 2.32 ERA last year.
“I’ve worked very hard for my number one spot. And I started as a freshman and I’ve kept working as hard as I needed to,” Primavera said. “Coming into high school from middle school was a very big transformation. These girls are good. We know what we need to bring.
“I hoped for the best (this year). I hope that my season is going to keep going like this, and I’m working hard.”
The Lady Sharks have outscored their opponents by a combined 76-3 margin, though they face a significant non-district test in Land O’ Lakes on Wednesday.
A season ago, Nature Coast went 21-5 but lost its district final to Hernando, 7-4, then dropped a slugfest against River Ridge in the regional quarterfinals, 11-9. That was a near mirror of 2014, when the Lady Sharks fell at the hands of the Lady Leopards for the district title before going down to River Ridge in regionals.
This time around, Nature Coast hopes to finally break through to earn its first district crown.
“In the circle and defensively, I’m really, really pleased. I’m not totally pleased with how we’re hitting the ball. Too many balls up in the air. We don’t strike out, but we hit too many balls up in the air,” Olmstead said. “Overall I’m pleased, and we’re going to start to hit. Trust me, because that’s my thing.
“After last year, dropping the district championship here to Hernando, it was a real disappointment. And then going up to River Ridge, and getting 18 hits and losing a game. I’ve never been involved in a game in my playing career, in college, high school or whatever, where we’ve gotten 18 hits and we’ve lost.
“So expectations are high. This district’s a little soft. But we take one game at a time. We don’t look ahead and we’re just taking them one at a time. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully we’ll be OK.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.