The Florida state champions came within two runs of success at the Senior Softball South Region tournament, but those runs cost the Citrus Park team two games against North Carolina at Vienna, Va.
North Carolina (ages 14-16) beat Florida 3-2 on Monday, and North Carolina escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh to hang on 10-9 Tuesday and end Citrus Park's season.
"The girls, it was hard on them," Florida manager Marisol Hester said. "They cried, it was that close. But we accomplished a lot."
In the seventh Meghan Johnson hit a run-scoring single to make it 10-9, but with the bases loaded North Carolina held on with a pop up and a strikeout to take the title and advance to Senior Softball World Series.
MAJOR BASEBALL: North Carolina lost to West Virginia 2-1 at Gulfport but joins Florida, Georgia and Virginia in the semifinals.
