By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Apopka Blue Darters softball team is riding a three-game win streak after suffering their first loss of the season against Eustis on Wednesday, March 5. This week, the team had three games, including against Lake Mary on Tuesday, March 11, the second against Edgewater on Wednesday, March 12, and the third against Olympia on Thursday, March 13.
As of Wednesday, March 12, Apopka has a 6-1 record on the season, a 3-0 record in district games, and a run differential of plus-32 in district matchups. In Class 7A District 3, Apopka is first above Lake Brantley, Ocoee, Seminole, and Lake Mary in that order. This season, Apopka has brought in 88 total runs and allowed just 21 runs in seven games.
Lake Brantley is right on Apopka’s tail in the leaderboards as they are 9-0 on the season, 2-0 in district play, and have a run differential of plus-18 in district matchups.
Last Week
In their first loss of the season, the Blue Darters dropped a 14-10 slugfest to Eustis. Apopka allowed the Panthers collect 12 runs in the second inning and played catchup the rest of the game.
Head coach Mike MacWithey told me he blames his coaching error for the loss.
“We won that game,” MacWithey said. “The score may be 14-10, but we still won that game. That was a coaching mistake on my part for leaving our pitcher in for too long.
MacWithey told me that Apopka’s No. 2 pitcher is injured, and the No. 3 pitcher plays center field, so they are having trouble rotating arms right now.
MacWithey said that his most significant problem with Apopka’s play in that game was the team’s inability to get a ground ball out. In the field, Apopka had 19 putouts on 27 total chances, seven assists, a fielding percentage of .926, and two errors.
Apopka was down 12-2 going into the third inning after Eustis put up the 12-spot in the second. Apopka fought to get back in the game, bringing in eight more runs in the next five innings, compared to only two for Eustis, but the Blue Darters’ fight wasn’t enough to climb out of the deep hole.
After falling to Eustis, though, Apopka quickly rebounded, defeating Ocoee (16-0) and Boone (15-3) with a combined score of 31-3 to close out the week. The team was 5-1 heading into this week and is almost a quarter of the way through the season.
Apopka vs. Lake Mary (7-1) Win
The Blue Darters are 2-0 against Lake Mary this season. They defeated Lake Mary 11-1 in their season-opening game on Feb. 21 and 7-1 on Tuesday, March 11. This game included another excellent performance by Apopka at the plate, on the mound, and in the field.
Apopka scored consistently throughout the game, picking up seven runs in the first four innings but none in the fifth and sixth innings. After the game, MacWithey he said he was happy with the win but wanted more from his team at the plate.
“The talks with the girls after the game were about missed opportunities,” MacWithey said. “We won 7-1, and I felt like we should’ve had more. Specifically, we left a lot of people on base.”
In their victory, the Blue Darters left 11 on base. MacWithey told me that when the team faces a bases-loaded situation and no outs, it must come away with runs.
“We can’t let that happen,” he said. “We either gotta put something on the ground, bunt it, or something. We gotta be a little better there.”
In the first inning, Apopka brought in two runs. The first came from Taylor Smith, who sent in a run on a single. Then Alicia Lopez laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring in Smith, but Lake Mary could not make the play, allowing Smith to score and Lopez to reach base.
In the second inning, Smith again brought in Apopka’s run after sending a grounder to second base and beating the ball to first while also sending in a run.
In the third inning, Reese Kernz had a huge at-bat. Kernz battled at the plate with two strikes and two balls and laced a pitch straight to the right field wall for a double and two RBIs, pushing the Apopka lead to 5-0.
In the fourth inning Alezia Hatcher brought in Apopka’s final runs of the game. Hatcher came to the plate with the bases loaded, facing two outs. Hatcher didn’t let that phase her as she slapped the ball to deep right field for a single that sent in two more runs for the Blue Darters, who took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Apopka collected 10 hits, seven runs, seven RBIs, one double, and six stolen bases in the win. Three Darters stood out: Smith, Kernz, and Hatcher.
Smith went 2-for-3 at the plate, picking up two RBIs, two runs and stole two bases. She also enjoyed a perfect day behind the plate with a perfect fielding percentage, four putouts and two assists. Kernz went 1-3 at the plate, had two RBIs, one run, one double and collected two stolen bases. Hatcher went 2-3 at the plate, collected two RBIs and one run.
On the mound for Apopka in the win were Ava Millspaugh and Sydney Bartkin. Millspaugh started for Apopka and pitched five shutout innings, scattering four hits. She walked one and struck out five while throwing 64 pitches. Bartkin pitched the remaining two innings, allowing two hits and one earned run.
Whats next
Next week is spring break, so the team won’t have any games until the week of March 24. The team has three games the week after spring break, including road games at Lake Brantley on Tuesday, March 25, and at Deltona High School on Wednesday, March 26. If the renovation of Apopka’s home field is complete, the third game will be against Windermere on Friday, March 28, at Apopka’s home field.
