BROOKSVILLE – In its three previous trips to regionals, including each of the past two seasons, the Nature Coast softball team had to settle for the district runner-up spot.
On Thursday night, the Lady Sharks finally found their way to a district championship. Junior ace Abbey Primavera was nearly unhittable in the Class 5A, District 7 Tournament final at Tom Varn Park, paving the way to a 6-1 victory over Gulf.
“We knew what we had to do,” Primavera said. “We knew they were a good team. They have good players, and I knew what I had to do. I had to come prepared and I came ready to play.
“I’ve been hoping for this since my freshman year. Two years in a row we came up short, and we knew this was our year. And we came out ready to play.”
In a complete-game effort, the right-hander faced two over the minimum, permitting a single by Brittney Pressler in the fourth and a leadoff triple by Alicia Boloyan in the top of the seventh. She scored on a Pressler sacrifice fly to center.
“Abbey was on target today. We talked all day about one pitch. The problem all year has been we give up on pitches. We take pitches off,” Nature Coast head coach Jug Olmstead said. “It was one pitch; that’s all we preached was one pitch and she was super today, super. Played good defense. Everything was good today. We did a lot of nice things. We were ready to roll, trust me.”
Primavera, who missed time with an ankle injury, stands at 15-2 overall with a 0.94 earned run average. She has allowed 77 hits and 14 walks over 111.2 innings, striking out 104.
She was also in the middle of a four-run third inning for the top-seeded Lady Sharks (23-4). Mare Sparacia’s two-run double to the left-center field gap opened the scoring, and three batters later Primavera blooped a single into shallow right that pushed two more across.
“We just came in with a real good approach,” Olmstead said. “Just as we were talking with Abbey with one pitch at a time, we’re taking one pitch at a time, letting the ball get deep, thinking middle and driving it. One through nine, my lineup is tough.”
Chayse Skinner tacked on a two-run home run to center in the sixth, and Primavera had plenty of support.
“My screwball, and my curveball; they were both working good,” Primavera said. “As a strategy pitcher, you don’t want to throw many strikes. They’ve got to be on the corners, you’ve got to hit your spots. That’s what I was doing.”
Now Nature Coast, which defeated Hernando in Wednesday’s semifinals, 3-2, after receiving a first-round bye, will play a home regional quarterfinal Wednesday against the loser between Orlando-Bishop Moore Catholic and Orlando-Lake Highland Prep.
“It’s history. We finally get to host a regional game,” Olmstead said. “It’s great for the program. I’ve got some great young kids coming up. I’m going to lose some people. But we want to keep this thing rolling. We’re going to be fine and I’m real happy, and I’m real proud of everyone that we’ve had. They’ve done a great job.
“We’re going (in) to win,” Primavera said. “No matter what, we’re always going (in) to win. We’re going to be prepared this time.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.