ZEPHYRHILLS - Zephyrhills knew it was in for a long night before it even took the field.
The young Bulldogs, starting five sophomores had to face the nearly-unbeatable Bartow Yellow Jackets with their nearly unhittable pitcher, Lyndsey Littlejohn, and lost, 10-0, in the Class 3A regionals. The loss ended the season for Zephyrhills (17-8), but Bulldogs coach Patti Moul said it was a successful one despite the loss to Littlejohn, considered one of the top pitchers in the country.
"I don't know it was intimidation," Moul said. "She has so many good pitches and we made too many errors. We knew we couldn't play tight against them and we played tight."
The Bulldogs failed to manage a hit against Littlejohn or reliever Rachel Jackson, and committed four errors. Zephyrhills pitcher Jessica Reese was solid throughout, but victimized by defensive lapses.
Bartow opened the scoring with a single run in the first when Stacey Fernandez doubled home Whitney Little who reached on a single. Littlejohn struck out five of the first six Bulldogs batters before the Yellow Jackets broke it open with six runs in the third inning, aided by two Zephyrhills errors. Elizabeth Howell had the big hit for Bartow, scoring Fernandez and Jerica Sanchez with a two-run double.
Littlejohn continued mowing down the Bulldogs, striking out the side in the third inning and adding another in the fourth. On a Bartow error, Sarah Johnson was the first of only two Bulldogs to reach base. Not one Bulldog made it to second all night.
Bartow iced it in the fifth with three runs, capped by a two-run single by Karra Rutenbar to make it 10-0.
Moul said she would be happy to never have to face Bartow again.
"I wish they'd go to a different district," Moul said. "We knew we had to face them sooner or later."
- JEFF BERLINICKE
Pirates eliminated by Orlando Lake Highland
Pasco bowed out of the playoffs in a region semifinal for the second time in three seasons, losing 2-1 to Orlando Lake Highland Prep Friday.
Jami Pass went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Kayle Burchfield went 1-for-2 and scored the only run for the Pirates (12-15).
Adrian Brumby and C.J. New each had a hit and scored for Lake Highland Prep (19-9).
- STEVE LEE
Academy of Holy Names ousted in a squeaker
TAMPA - It was the bottom of the seventh inning, and relief was on its way for Academy of the Holy Names. Or so it seemed.
Down 1-0 against LaBelle in a Class 3A region semifinal, the Jaguars loaded the bases and centerfielder Dana Esposito was at bat. Three pitches in, LaBelle pitcher Amanda Atun was behind 3-0 in the count and began to blink back tears.
The Cowboys (20-7) rushed to the mound and calmed Atun, who then threw two strikes. Esposito smacked a foul ball along leftfield, but it was caught by LaBelle's Kaitlin Marotti. The play ended the Jaguars' season.
"I was pretty confident there were were going to tie it up," Holy Names coach Alan Peacock said. "What an effort by all of them. It was a great game to be a part of."
