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JOHN SCHWARBThe Bears defeat Lecanto 4-1 to advance in District 9 after coming in on a 2-7 slide.
SPRING HILL - In a district tournament that is proving impossible to figure, it certainly would not be a surprise to see a team that appeared to be toast at the end of the regular season rebound to win it all.
Central has the first step out of the way.
The Bears, losers of seven of nine coming into the Class 4A, District 9 tournament at Springstead, looked like a different team Tuesday in an easy 4-1 win over Lecanto. Freshman pitcher Katelyn Vanderham was strong, scattering six hits and striking out four; she had a shutout until the last inning.
"We're very, very hungry," Central coach Angie Svagerko said. "I was confident coming into this."
Central, the No. 3 seed, plays No. 2 Clermont East Ridge today at 5 p.m. in the first semifinal. East Ridge needed extra innings Monday to survive No. 7 Groveland South Lake.
In Tuesday's other quarterfinal, Leesburg came from behind to beat Citrus 2-1. Pitcher Ashley Mangrum took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the Hurricanes (7-15) but allowed consecutive singles to open the sixth. After a bunt moved both runners over, a groundout scored one and a throwing error plated the other.
The game would not have come down to that had Citrus cashed in on just one of many scoring opportunities earlier.
"We were leaving runners all over the place," coach Mike Reynolds said. "You don't get the clutch hit, make one mistake and you pay for it, that's basically been our whole season."
Leesburg (12-11) faces Springstead after the Central-East Ridge game. The host Eagles, the bottom seed at No. 8, sent top seed Crystal River home Monday with a 1-0 win.
Including Seven Rivers Christian's loss, Citrus County saw all of its softball teams eliminated over the first two days of district play.
Central (11-13) had the easiest time of the 4A-9 winners after a three-run third inning against Lecanto. A pitching change for the Panthers backfired as Nikki Pontius came in with one out and one runner on, then went on to retire just one hitter.
Lisa Butler scored from third on a wild pitch to start the scoring, though it would have ended there had Pontius cleanly played an Alex Gaffney grounder hit back to her. But a wild throw scored Julie Schneidmiller, and Gaffney later scored on a single from Liz Wallace before Lecanto starting pitcher Brittany Tyler took the ball back.
Those three runs were plenty for Central's left-hander.
"I was happy, I did my job," Vanderham said. "I'll hopefully get better and better each game."
That's spoken like someone who is expecting their season to continue past today, and in this wild tournament it could be possible for Central.