The Hernando Youth League Angels (age 9-10) All-Stars garnered a trip to states with an impressive performance despite finishing as the runner-up in last month’s district tournament.
Afforded the opportunity to keep playing, the HYL Angels had a short two-game stay at the state tournament last weekend in Bristol, but hoped it was productive moving forward.
“It was a learning experience,” HYL Angels head coach Billy Williams said. “You take the things you can learn from and prepare to apply them next year. We look forward to playing those teams again. I think our girls have an equal opportunity to win a state title again.”
On July 7, the HYL Angels opened their tournament slate with an 8-5 loss to Okeechobee. The Brooksville club initially opened up a 3-1 lead, as Daria Lawson single in the bottom of the first inning and eventually came around, then three straight walks to Megan Sowers, Carmen Edwards and Angelina Finelli led to two runs in the second.
But Okeechobee responded with three in the third and one more in the fourth. The HYL Angels tied it twice, Shyann Lynch’s leadoff walk resulting in a run in the third and Taylor Laviano doubling home a run in the fourth.
However, Okeechobee tallied three more runs in the top of the fifth and finally held the HYL Angels scoreless in the bottom half to seal the victory. The HYL Angels sustained two injuries before it was over, Finelli bruising her knee on a slide into home and the catcher Sowers suffering a fractured forearm on another play at the plate.
Finelli was cleared to return the next day against West Pasco, the team the HYL Angels played three times in districts, dropping 2-of-3. This time around, West Pasco would prevail, 8-2.
West Pasco scored four runs in the bottom of the second to break it open, then scored twice in both the fourth and fifth. Mika Vaughan walked and scored for the HYL Angels in the third and Edwards did the same in the fourth.
“We didn’t play as good as we needed to, to win,” Williams said. “West Pasco played well and deserved to move on.”
The county also had two Debs (age 17-19) All-Star squads at states, since there was no district tournament for that age group.
HYL’s Debs lost to Wahneta on July 7, 15-13, and fell to Spring Hill the next day, 5-2. Pitcher Parker Garman was selected as the team’s MVP following both contests.
“They came together as a team toward the end,” HYL Debs head coach Sharon Hoffman said. “We’ve got to work on some things to be better for next year.”
Spring Hill sandwiched the win over HYL with losses to Lake Placid, 16-1 on July 7 and 6-0 later on July 8. Jessica Freeman tossed a complete game versus HYL, and head coach John Anderson also complimented the pitching of Sydney Picerno and Ally Mayersky.
“All around, the team did very well. It’s a younger team, but in the end they did well,” Anderson said. “We only have one girl aging out, everybody else we should be able to retain. I really think we’ll be a lot more competitive next year.”
In Dixie Baseball, the Spring Hill Junior Boys (age 13) All-Stars finished as the runner-up at the state tournament held at Anderson Snow Sports Complex. Spring Hill won 12-11 over Okeechobee on July 7, then on Sunday lost 19-4 to West Seminole and beat East Lakeland, 13-6. West Seminole won 10-4 in Monday’s final.
Also at Anderson Snow, the Brooksville Senior Boys (age 14) All-Stars blew out North Lakeland on July 8, 31-0. Then on Sunday, Brooksville lost to West Seminole, 13-12 in eight innings. That preceded a 15-0 victory over Sebring on Monday and a 9-4 loss to West Seminole on Tuesday.
Brooksville and Ridge Manor both participated in the AAA Majors (age 11-12) All-Stars State Tournament at the East Lakeland Baseball Complex.
On July 8, Brooksville thumped Fort Meade, 15-0, and Ridge Manor went down against East Lakeland, 11-1. The next day Brooksville fell to South Sumter, 9-1, and Ridge Manor lost to Frostproof on Monday, 12-0. Brooksville’s run ended on Tuesday with a 9-5 defeat against East Lakeland.
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.