West Orange, Lake Brantley make final
West Orange’s top-ranked baseball team has rumbled past most of its opponents this season, but the Warriors had to fight tooth-and-nail for its latest victory.
Engaged in a fierce pitching duel through five innings, West Orange (23-3) broke a 1-1 tie with five runs on five hits in the sixth to battle past Olympia 6-1 in a Class 9A, District 3 semifinal game at Lake Brantley High School.
The late-game outburst made winner out of 6-foot-5 senior
who pitched a three-hitter and struck out nine batters.
Olympia’s who had allowed only four hits through five innings, took the loss.
West Orange next faces Lake Brantley (20-6), which edged Apopka 3-2 on a walk-off single by in the seventh to advance to Friday’s final.
“It was a tight one,” West Orange coach said. “Olympia always gives us a run for our money.”
and had RBI singles and smashed a two-RBI double to highlight West Orange’s big sixth inning.
went 2-for-4. In the first game, Lake Brantley struggled against Apopka starter
after breaking through for two runs in the third inning. had an RBI single and had an RBI double for Lake Brantley.
Apopka (16-10) rallied to tie it at 2-2 in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Stewart scattered six hits through six innings, retiring 10 of the last 13 batters before getting pulled for in the seventh.
Wash then came through, making a winner out of reliever who allowed only one hit in 31⁄3 innings. a Dr. Phillips (19-7) and Boone (16-10) both won one-run semifinals to advance to Friday’s 4 p.m. 9A-4 title game at Freedom. walk-off RBI hit was decisive for DP in its 2-1 win vs. Freedom. pitched a one-hitter for the Panthers (19-7). had the game-winning RBI in Boone’s 6-5 win vs. Cypress Creek. Edgewater rallied from three runs down to beat Seabreeze 10-9 in a 7A-5 semifinal. The Eagles play top seed New Smyrna Beach for the title today at 5 p.m. at Daytona State College. had four hits and runs for Edgewater scored (14-13). added a double, triple and three RBI.
Timber Creek (19-7) and Oviedo (15-11) both got solid pitching performances to advance to Friday’s 9A-6 final at Winter Park. Winning pitcher
went the distance for Timber Creek in its 5-2 semifinal win over Orlando University. pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts for Oviedo in its 2-1 win over the host Wildcats. three
lined an RBI single in the top of the 13th inning to give Lake Howell a scintillating 1-0 softball win over St. Cloud in a Class 8A region quarterfinal. The game lasted nearly 3 ⁄ hours. Lake Howell will play at district rival Hagerty in a rematch of their district final on Tuesday. Leinenbach's hit scored
who started the rally with a one-out double.
fired a complete game for Lake Howell, allowing 10 hits and striking out four.
St. Cloud’s also worked 13 innings, allowing nine hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. West Orange (24-3) shut out Lake Nona 7-0 in a Class 9A fastpitch softball region quarterfinal. The Warriors have won 20 of their past 21 games. and winning pitcher combined for nine RBI as TImber Creek (24-3) runruled Ridge Community 15-0 in 9A. pitched three shutout innings and Kissimmee Osceola blanked Winter Park 4-0 in 9A.
Trinity Prep’s cross country/distance crew swept all four 3,200-meter run state meet qualifying berths in last week’s 2A, Region 2 track and field meet at Lake Highland Prep.
and all jogged across the line together to claim first through fourth place and secure slots in Friday night’s state final in Bradenton.