Lake Brantley defeats Oakleaf to reach semifinals

Who knew the secret to softball success was a little bit of yoga?

At least that’s one of the activities first-year Lake Brantley coach Jacob Stanley added this season, and the end result is the first trip to the FHSAA state semifinals after a 5-2 victory over Oakleaf in the Class 7A regional.

The game was moved to Saturday morning due to Oakleaf ’s graduation ceremony on Friday.

In addition to bringing a new perspective in the dugout to a team that reached the regional final last year before losing, Stanley had the team focus on off-thefield activities to build a family atmosphere.

“We put a huge emphasis on team bonding and being a family,” he said about the group evenly split with nine underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) and eight upperclassmen. “They have yoga classes together and team dinners and they also put in the work to get better without making any excuses.”

The result was the team not crumbling under the pressure in Saturday’s game after Oakleaf had a 2-0 lead in the third inning. The Patriots (24-4) clawed their way back with a run in the bottom of the third, two more runs in the fourth and two insurance runs in the sixth.

“We had some baserunning mistakes early on, but the girls kept their heads up, adjusted at the plate, put the ball in play and overcame everything,” Stanley said.

Senior Hannah Marien earned the win in the pitching circle, giving up six hits, one walk and two unearned runs while striking out 13 in the complete game. She also had two hits, including a double.

Junior Bristin Bordeau had a home run and two RBI. It’s her eighth homer of the season to set a Lake Brantley softball record.

The Patriots advance to Friday’s state semifinals at Legends Way Ballfield in Clermont with the opponent to be determined after the final four are reseeded.