Kissimmee Klassic recap: Oakleaf, West Nassau, Keystone all win

KISSIMMEE- It was an eventful day for Oakleaf, West Nassau and Keystone Heights, in the first day of action at the 12th Annual Kissimmee Klassic as all three moved on to the winners bracket and quarterfinal round.

Play began with a pair of 6 p.m. games featuring West Nassau and defending Class 9A state champion Western as well as Keystone Heights and Riverview.

West Nassau 7, Western 3

Things didn’t start out well for the Warriors who spotted the Wildcats a three run first to take an early 3-0 lead.

Then pitcher Regan Lee settled down and took control keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard the rest of the game after finishing with 13 strikeouts and only 5 walks in the win.

After retiring the first two batters via strikeout, Lee surrendered two walks and then a single and two more walks to allow Western to take the 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

The second inning was much more productive for Lee, who struck out the side to send the Wildcats down in order.

That’s when the bats came alive for the Warriors, who exploded for four runs to take a 4-3 lead in the inning.

Mykhala Moore led off with a walk and stole second, Kaleigh Clay reached first on a bunt scoring Moore and then reached second and third on passed balls with one out.

Trinity Armstrong was hit by a pitch before Bre Hickox two out double scored both Clay and Armstrong and Madison Dixon followed with a RBI single to put West Nassau up 4-3 after two innings.

Lee ran into a jam in the top of the third allowing a walk and a double but was able to get out of it with a strikeout and a ground out.

Moore walked and stole second and third on her way to scoring in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 5-3 after three innings.

Superb defense by the Warriors helped keep the Wildcats off the bases in the fourth as three runners reached base on singled in the inning but were picked off at either second or third.

In the bottom of the fifth, West Nassau added to its lead as Bree Hartman led off with a walk and pinch runner Bailey Studt, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on an error to increase the lead to 6-3 through five innings.

Clay singled and scored in the sixth to increased the lead to 7-3 after six innings.

Lee struck out the side in the seventh to finish with 13 strikeouts on the night to earn the win.

The Warriors were led by Clay (2-3, 1 RBI), Dixon (1-3, 1 RBI), Hickox (1-4, 2 RBI) and Hope Epps (1-3).

West Nassau (11-6) advances to the quarterfinal round and will play Kissimmee St. Cloud today at 5 p.m. in the Blue Division winners bracket.

Keystone Heights 8, Tampa Riverview 3

Down 1-0 after one inning, Keystone Heights rallied and then took control of the game in a 8-3 win over Tampa Riverview in their opener.

Daelynn Eatmon went all seven innings striking out 10, while walking five to earn the win.

Savannah Channel led of the third with a single and scored on Kiley Channel RBI single to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the second inning.

Keystone took advantage of two wild pitches to take the lead in the top of the third, as both Emma Rogel and Ashton Ludwig singled to lead off the inning and came around to score on three wild pitches to give the Indians a 3-1 lead.

Riverview answered in the bottom of the inning loading the bases with two singles and a walk, before Ariela Leon walked to cut the lead to 3-2 in the inning. However, Eatmon was able to get out of the jam with no more runs striking out the side.

Ahead just 3-2 now, the Indians needed some insurance runs and picked up two more in the fifth.

Savannah Channel doubled and stole home and Isabell Woodell followed with a single and scored on Asia Givens fielders choice for a 5-2 lead.

Ahead 5-3 heading to the seventh, the Indians put it away with a three run inning.

The Indians loaded the bases with a Maddie Mitzel walk, Kendall Gagnon single and Asia Givens bunt single. Kiley Channel walked to score Mitzel and Ashton Ludwig singled to score Gagnon.

Eatmon gave up a one out single but got out of the bottom of the seventh with a strikeout and a fly out.

Keystone Heights (11-4) will play Frostproof today at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Gold Division.

Oakleaf 4, Lake Region 2

Cambria Arturo and Madi Davis combined on a three hitter helping two time defending Kissimmee Klassic champion Oakleaf to a 4-2 win over Lake Region.

The Knights didn’t waste any time establishing the lead tacking on a run in the first inning as Jaeda McFarland drew a walk and scored on Jaycie Brookshire RBI single for a 1-0 lead in the first.

Arturo struggled early on giving up a pair of singles but got help from her defense with two force outs at second and a strikeout to get out of the first.

She got into a zone after that retiring the side in the second and 9 of the next 10 batters after the first inning to keep the Thunder off the scoreboard through four innings.

The lead stayed at 1-0 until the fifth when the Knights tacked on two more runs to take a 3-0 lead.

Katie Kistler tripled and scored off McFarland’s RBI bunt single, McFarland came around to score on an error off the bat of Jaycee Brookshire.

Its a good thing the Knights plated the two runs in the top of the inning, as the Thunder rallied with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 3-2 through five innings.

Clinging to a one run lead heading to the seventh, the Knights got a huge insurance run in the top of the seventh.

Kistler singled and scored on McFarland’s RBI triple giving the Knights a two run cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Davis, who entered the game in the sixth retiring the side in order, allowed a one out walk before finishing the game with a strikeout and a pop up.

Oakleaf (14-1) will play St. Thomas Aquinas today at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Blue Division.

Tate 13, Matanzas 2

Matanzas saw their undefeated streak come to an abrupt end with a 13-2 shellacking to Tate in the first round of the Kissimmee Klassic.

Things started out well for the Pirates as they took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a Isabella Santiago walk and a Alyssia Paiz RBI single.

But that was about it for the Pirates, as the Aggies roughed up starter Emma Wood and reliever Grace Ledrich.

Tate took control of the game with 4 runs in the second and 6 in the third to take a 10-1 lead.

Paiz walked to start the fourth and scored on an error to cut the lead to 10-2 through four innings.

Three more runs in the sixth put Tate up 13-2 and the Aggies closed out the run ruled game retiring the Pirates in the sixth.

Matanzas (12-1) will play Lecanto today at 3 p.m. in a losers bracket game in the Gold Division.

Scores

Blue Division

Orange City University 6, Pembroke Pines Charter 2

St. Thomas Aquinas 1, Gainesville 0

Bartow 1, Lake Brantley 0

Stoneman Douglas 3, Academy of the Lakes 2

West Nassau 7, Western 3