Orlando Sentinel

The latest in varsity sports.

- By J.C. Carnahan Staff Writer jcarnahan@orlandosen­tinel.com

Winter Springs is closing out its softball regular season in style this week with a pair of road games against Sentinel Super Six teams.

The Bears, who moved up to No. 5 in the area rankings after defeating Hagerty 4-2, have won six in a row and 14 of their past 16 games.

Winter Springs plays at No. 3 Eustis today and at No. 1 West Orange on Friday at 7 p.m. in matchups serving as a precursor to the start of district tournament play.

“Facing the two pitchers we’ll face this week should hopefully get us prepared for next week when we face Lake Howell,” Winter Springs coach Mark Hauman said of Tuesday’s district semifinal against the Silver Hawks.

Eustis sophomore Delaney Heaberlin has a 0.91 earned run average in 100 innings pitched. West Orange senior Lauren Mathis entered the week with a 0.23 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 61 innings.

No matter who’s in the circle for opposing teams, Winter Springs has proven to be deep enough to match up accordingl­y. Huaman says all 16 players on the roster are capable of contributi­ng in the starting lineup.

Sophomore Kaley Mudge, a Florida State commit, is batting .515 with 12 extrabase hits.

Freshman pitcher Aynslie Furbush has a 1.27 ERA and leads the Bears with 17 RBI and three home runs. For Winter Springs to be successful this week and into the postseason, it will come down to how well its pitching and defense stacks up against the competitio­n.

“At this point we’re not playing as well as we need to, but this week is a great challenge for us to get back on that high,” Huaman said. “We’ve kind of mellowed out a bit since the Kissimmee Klassic [tournament] and won some tight games, but I think we’ve maybe been looking a little ahead.”

Boone, ranked No. 6, enters the Super Six for the first time this season while riding a 12-game winning streak.

The Braves travel to No. 2 Timber Creek tonight for a 7 p.m. game before finishing the week by hosting Seminole on Friday at 5 p.m.

Deltona dropped from the No. 3 spot after losing three consecutiv­e games last week.

Super Six rankings

Records through Monday. Last week’s ranking in parenthesi­s if different. 1. West Orange (19-2) 2. Timber Creek (18-2) 3. (4) Eustis (18-1) 4. (5) Orange City University (17-6) 5. (NR) Winter Springs (18-5) 6. (NR) Boone (19-3)

Second Six: Lake Howell, Port Orange Spruce Creek, Seminole, Hagerty, St. Cloud, Lake Brantley.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States