Lake Brantley ousts Apopka softball from state playoffs

By Marshall Tempest  

Reporter  

The Apopka softball team’s 2025 season ended in the Class 7A Region 1 Semifinals at the hands of the Lake Brantley Patriots, who coasted to a 9-2 win Tuesday night.  

The Blue Darters finished the season with a 22-6 record—with half of their losses coming to No. 1 Lake Brantley.   

“I’m sure they’re not happy, but nobody’s happy after a loss,” head coach Mike MacWithey said. “We’re proud of what we accomplished. You know, we had two losing seasons in a row, and we just came back and put up more wins, with mostly the same players, than the last two years combined.”  

Lake Brantley jumped ahead early and never looked back. The Patriots put up three runs in the first inning, two in the second and one in the fourth to take a commanding 6-0 lead into the fifth inning. 

Apopka was beginning to run out of innings and needed to make something happen. The Blue Darters put up their first run of the night in the top of the fifth on a Sydney Bartkin line drive to left field. But the Patriots didn’t let Apopka get any traction.   

The Blue Darters took the field after securing their first run and promptly saw the Patriots score three more runs to stretch the lead to 9-1.  

Apopka brought in one more run in the top of the sixth, but that was it. Alezia Hatcher plated the run with a sacrifice fly.   

The Patriots retired the Apopka side in order at the top of the seventh to secure the 9-2 victory. 

After the loss, MacWithey said the Blue Darters beat themselves again. He said that defensive errors and some pitching mistakes allowed the game to slip away.   

“We didn’t quite pitch as well as we have in the past,” MacWithey said. “But we didn’t pitch badly. That’s the problem with playing a very good team. Let us recognize the fact that they are ranked No. 1 in Class 7A for a reason. They will hit mistakes. If you make mistakes, they’re going to beat you.”  

According to the stat box, all nine Apopka runs were earned, although the defense also committed three errors. MacWithey said he tallied five to six Apopka defensive errors before he stopped counting. He said that, mixed with poor baserunning and a handful of walks, gave Lake Brantley the slightest edge, and they took advantage of it.  

Bartkin started on the mound for Apopka and in one and one-third innings gave up five runs on seven hits while striking out two. Ava Millspaugh came in to relieve her in the second and stayed in for most of the game. In three and one-third innings, she allowed four runs on five hits. She also walked two and struck out two.  

Mia Aeschilman finished on the mound for Apopka and allowed one hit and one walk in a shutout inning of work.  

The Blue Darter offense struggled to put the ball in play, which hadn’t been a problem all year. Apopka recorded just four hits to Lake Brantley’s 13. The Blue Darters finished with a batting average of .174 compared to their season average of .403.  

MacWithey said Apopka’s lack of production at the plate, combined with the Patriots’ near-perfect defense, was a recipe for disaster.   

“Again, they fielded plays,” MacWithey said. “I can’t think of any errors they made off the top of my head. Not that we gave them a whole lot to field. But you know, they had two double plays, a diving catch in center field, and their pitchers had three putouts. Those were all great plays, and we didn’t respond defensively like we should have.”  

Despite the disappointment, MacWithey said he is proud of the team and what they accomplished this season. The 2025 Apopka softball team won more games (22) than the 2023 (10) and 2024 (9) teams combined, proving that they could compete with the best teams in the state.   

MacWithey and the team put everything they had into this season and the game against Lake Brantley but couldn’t get over the hump. 

“We threw all our pitchers at them, and we threw almost all our players at them,” he said. “They beat us. There’s nothing else to say. Can’t cry about it. They played way better.”