KISSIMMEE – While she may have not got the results she fully wanted, Keystone Heights softball coach Jessica Marquart has to be somewhat pleased with her teams performance this weekend at the prestigious Kissimmee Klassic.
The Indians, ranked No. 6 in Class 5A, went toe-to-toe with state powers Lakewood Ranch, Land O’Lakes and Bartow, which ended up finishing second in the tournament.
After dropping their first three games of the tournament, the Indians wrapped up their stay in Kissimmee with a 17-0 win over South Fork on Saturday.
Perhaps the win will provide the Indians (14-7) with a much needed spark with the playoffs looming in two weeks.
Faced tough competition this weekend. The girls rallied today with a 16-0 win. Getting ready for games against Gainesville and Santa Fe next week.
— Keystone Softball 🥎 (@KH_Softball) April 7, 2018
Keystone 17, South Fork 0
After three straight losses, the bats woke up and teed off with 16 hits, scoring in all four innings to get the easy 17-0 win in the consolation game.
Ashleigh Jennings and Bailey Storey both singled and stole second, while Skylar Rollins to load the bases with no outs. Following a pop up, Savannah Channell singled in Jennings and Makayla Smith singled in both Story and Rollins to give the Indians a quick 3-0 lead.
Pitcher Megan Moncrief retired the side with a strikeout and two fly outs to get out of the first easily. Moncrief allowed no hits in four innings to get the win.
Lexi Northway led off the second with a single and Jennings reached on a bunt single to put runners on first and second with no outs; while Story followed with a 2 RBI single scoring both Northway and Jennings for a 5-0 lead.
Molly Crawford doubled in Story, stole third and home, while Channell reached on error and stole second, before Smith was hit by pitch to put runners on first and second; while Cami Worley 2 RBI single scored both Channell and Smith.
Northway who started the inning then singled, before Jennings grounded out to finally end the inning with the Indians scoring 6 runs for a 9-0 lead.
Moncrief retired the side quickly with a fly out and two grounders to end the second inning and followed with a quick third with two grounders and a fly out to retire nine in a row heading into the fourth.
Keystone added two more runs in the top of the third as Story singled, stole second and advanced to third on an error, Crawford reached on error and advanced home on an error while Channell flied out scoring Story increasing the lead to 11-0 through three.
In the fourth, Daelynn Eatmon singled and stole third, Emily Pressley was hit by a pitch and stole second, Story singled in Eatmon and Ludwig was hit by pitch. Crawford doubled in Pressley, Story and Ludwig for a 3 RBI double, while Channell grounded out scoring Crawford.
Ahead 17-0, Moncrief had a chance to pick up the win in the fourth and finished the perfect game and no-hitter with a strike out, grounder and fly out.
Story led the Indians going 4 for 4 with 3 RBI, while Crawford was 2 for 4 with 4 RBI, Channell was 1 for 4 with 3 RBI and Jennings was 2 for 4.
| Ashleigh Jennings cf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Malea Rolle ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bailey Story c | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | (t2) Sydney Martinez rf-c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Skylar Rollins 2b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Casey Edgerly 2b-ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b2) Ashton Ludwig 2b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maddie Kelleher 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Molly Crawford ss | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | (t2) Ellie Vanhilly lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Savannah Channell 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Katelyn Aguirre cf-ss-1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Makayla Smith dh | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Sophia Turull p-2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan Moncrief p | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Eric Ellison 1b-p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cami Worley 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Makayla Secour rf-cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t4) Daelynn Eatmon 1b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Zoe Stockman lf-3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lexi Northway rf | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Jada Goldstein c-rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b2) Emily Pressley pr-rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Madison Heskett lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Land O’Lakes 10, Keystone Heights 1
Land O’Lakes (17-4), ranked No. 2 in Class 7A, led 4-1 in the sixth before exploding for six runs in the bottom of the inning to blow out Keystone in their third game of the tournament.
The Indians managed only five hits off the Gator trio of pitchers Shelby Westbrook, Emily Proctor and Callie Turner in the loss.
| Shelby Westbrook W | 2.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Emily Proctor | 2.00 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Callie Turner | 3.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Keystone Heights Indians | ||||||
| Daelynn Eatmon L | 4.00 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Megan Moncrief | 2.00 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Trailing 4-0, the Indians avoided the shut out as Story tripled to lead off the top of the fourth and scored on Rollins RBI single. The Indians couldn’t take advantage of it though as the Gators got out of it was a sac bunt, grounder and a fly out.
| Shelby Westbrook p-cf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Ashleigh Jennings cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t5) Brooke Stanley rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Bailey Story c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ashley Smith 3b | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Skylar Rollins 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brianna Lindner dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Molly Crawford ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jo Bodner c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Savannah Channell 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trinity Duran lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Makayla Smith dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| (t3) Emily Proctor p-lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cami Worley 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t5) Callie Turner p | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | (t6) Emily Pressley 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sarah Castoria rf-lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ashton Ludwig lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gracie Stanley ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Lexi Northway rf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mackenzie Burgett 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Daelynn Eatmon p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (t6) Bianca Potts 1b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Megan Moncrief p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Haylee Fernandez cf-rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| (b6) Madison Barnthouse cf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Destiny Rodriguez 2b-pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Lakewood Ranch 8, Keystone Heights 3
Keystone Heights jumped on heavily favored Lakewood Ranch, who entered the tournament No. 7 in Class 8A, with a run in the first but the high powered Mustangs answered back with four of their own to take control of the game.
Lakewood Ranch (17-4) won the Tournament of Champions a month ago at Oakleaf including a dramatic 7-6 win over host Oakleaf in the semifinals.
| Lakewood Ranch Mustangs | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Brooklyn Lucero W | 4.00 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Kayla Howald S | 3.00 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Keystone Heights Indians | ||||||
| Megan Moncrief L | 2.67 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Daelynn Eatmon | 3.33 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Despite getting 10 hits, the Indians were handcuffed by reliever Kayla Howald who allowed just one run and struck out four. Against starter Brookly Lucero the Indians managed three runs on five hits.
Trailing 5-3 in the third, giving up a run in the third and two runs in the fourth proved to be the difference in the game as both teams were equal the rest of the game.
Jennings, Story, Rollings and Crawford each managed two hits, while the rest of the lineup only managed two hits combined.
| Alexis Schwab lf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Ashleigh Jennings cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Avery Goelz 1b | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | Bailey Story c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| (b1) Jillian Herbst pr-2b | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Skylar Rollins 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Maddie Koczersut 3b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Molly Crawford ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Morgan Cummins c | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Savannah Channell 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Taylor Woodring rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Makayla Smith dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b6) Maddie LoCastro rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cami Worley 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brooklyn Lucero p | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Madison Heskett lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b1) Kayla Howald pr-p | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | (b4) Ashton Ludwig lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kailey Christian ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Lexi Northway rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| (b6) Maddie Schaefer ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Megan Moncrief p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Payton Kinney dh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Daelynn Eatmon p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (b3) Marissa Addison pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Emily Hughes 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Olivia Danko cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bartow 6, Keystone Heights 5
If there is one game that Marquart has to be shaking her head about and a little proud of was the opening game of the tournament to state power Bartow.
After seeing Bartow take an early 2-0 lead, the Indians responded with a five run third to take a 5-2 lead going to the fourth on Smith 2 RBI single.
However, the Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 6 in Class 8A, responded with three runs in the top of the fourth to tie up at 5-5 after four innings.
The game would remain tied going to the seventh until the Yellow Jackets took the lead back on a walk, sac bunt and RBI double to lead 6-5 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Keystone had a chance in the seventh as Story singled and advanced to third on an error and Rollins reached on an error putting runners at second and third with no outs.
However a liner, fly out and a strikeout kept the tying run and winning run on base and allowed Bartow to move on.
| Bartow Yellow Jackets | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jaden Williamson W | 7.00 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Keystone Heights Indians | ||||||
| Daelynn Eatmon L | 7.00 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Story, Smith and Northway each had two hits and the only hits for the Indians in the loss.
| Sabrina Long 2b | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Ashleigh Jennings cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tayler Owen 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Bailey Story c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Emily Ruley c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Skylar Rollins 2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashleigh Robinson 1b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Molly Crawford ss | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabi Schaal ss | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Savannah Channell 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dani Karacson rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Makayla Smith dh | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mari Stephens cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Cami Worley 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaden Williamson p | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Ashton Ludwig lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Haley Williamson lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lexi Northway rf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Daelynn Eatmon p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cheering them on
Being the only two area teams in the 32 team field both Keystone Heights and Oakleaf attended each others games through out the tournament and cheered each other on.
Keystone watched Oakleaf’s come from behind 2-1 win over Eustis in the bottom of the seventh Friday night before the Indians took on Land O’ Lakes later that night.
A day later on Saturday, before their semifinal game against Stoneman Douglas, Oakleaf watched Keystone pound South Fork 17-0 in their final game of the tourney.
Waiting for our game, cheering for our Clay County friends @knights_ohs pic.twitter.com/A996n4InNW
— Keystone Softball 🥎 (@KH_Softball) April 7, 2018
Supporting our friends @KH_Softball 💪 #ClayCountyStrong pic.twitter.com/EdtZMLG1Xz
— Christina Thompson (@knights_ohs) April 7, 2018
