After capturing the Metro Conference Championship last week against Boone, Apopka’s softball team came back home to shut out Mount Dora, 5-0, Tuesday night, stretching the Blue Darter winning streak to six games. 

Mia Aeschilman started in the pitcher’s circle against the Hurricanes (8-8), allowing one hit and no runs through the first two innings to earn the win. Apopka (12-4) caught immediate fire on offense and did all its damage during those two early frames. 

After Alicia Lopez opened the first with a double to right field, Taylor Smith stepped to the plate and launched a no-doubt missile over the right field fence for her third home run of the year. 

Up 2-0 in the second inning, Shylah Pino sparked a two-out rally with singled to center. Lopez brought her home with another double. After Smith walked, both runners moved ahead on a wild pitch. Riley Ford then scored them with a line drive to left field to make it 5-0. 

In the top of the third inning, Ava Millspaugh stepped into the pitcher’s circle and struck out the side. She kept the Hurricanes scoreless and only allowed one baserunner for the remainder of the game. 

Both teams cruised through multiple hitless innings as the rest of the game moved quickly. The Blue Darter offense finished with six hits and did not strike out at the plate. Aeschilman and Millspaugh combined on a two-hit shutout. 

On April 4, Apopka’s Metro Conference Championship game in Boone held a completely different story, with the Blue Darters needing to overcome a one-run deficit. 

This was the first conference championship in many years that featured the winners from the Metro West and Metro East. 

The ballgame started with a plethora of base hits for Apopka. Singles for Pino and Lopez led to a fielder’s choice hit from Smith, where Boone got the force out at third base. Sydney Bartkin lined a single to right field to load the bases, then Ford ripped a grounder through the infield to score Lopez. 

Boone made a great play at the plate, gunning out Smith sliding home. But with two outs, Ava Gonzalez lined a single into left field to score Bartkin and make it 2-0. 

Boone’s answer came in the bottom of the second after a double and sacrifice bunt put a runner at third. An RBI single and a sacrifice fly tied the game for the Titans. 

In the third inning, Apopka left a runner in scoring position and Boone capitalized. A leadoff single forced a pitching change to Millspaugh. Another single advanced the runner, and a sacrifice fly to right field gave the Titans the lead. Millspaugh fanned the last batter, but the Blue Darters had work to do. 

They got right to it in the fourth. Callie Sowers reached first on an error, and Lopez made them pay for it, drilling a line drive double to left to tie the game.  

After a three up, three down bottom of the fourth from Millspaugh, Apopka retook its lead with an emphatic hit. Victoria Shaw stepped in the batter’s box with one out and drove a moonshot over the center field fence for the 4-3 lead. 

Millspaugh kept the Apopka lead intact through the fifth and sixth, inducing multiple groundouts and flyouts while striking out a batter.  

In the top of the seventh, the Blue Darters stamped down an exclamation point. 

With two outs, Hagan McGatlin started a rally with a double to left. Sowers scored her with a single. Pino doubled to center to drive her in, and Lopez followed with a single to center. On an errant throw to the infield, Pino scored and Lopez advanced, making it 7-3.  

Boone intentionally walked the dangerous Smith, but it didn’t work in their favor as Bartkin smoked a line drive to the right field gap to score both runners and blow the game wide open, 9-3.  

Millspaugh logged strikeout and two groundouts ended the game and ignite a championship celebration from the Lady Darters. 

Apopka finished with 15 hits and only struck out once. Aeschilman and Millspaugh combined for five strikeouts. 

Lopez has been stellar and a key piece to their six-game win streak. In this stretch, she is batting a .636 with 15 hits, 11 RBIs, and 9 runs scored.  

Pino continues her consistent production at the top of the lineup, batting .550 with 12 hits, eight runs, and five stolen bases. Ford added nine hits and six RBIs during the win streak.