OAKLEAF – With two of the best area and statewide softball teams facing off, what else would you expect from these two.
With the winning run at third and one out, Madison Mifsung lined a shot deep at second base allowing Baylee Goddard to fly home and under the tag to give Oakleaf a stunning 1-0 win over visiting Gainesville last night.
For six innings, Gainesville (13-3), ranked No. 3 in the Class 7A state poll, gave Oakleaf (11-2), ranked No. 4 in the Class 8A state poll, all it could handle and more.
Fans were treated to an old fashioned pitchers duel as sophomore pitcher Alissa Humphrey handcuffed the potent lineup of the Knights, striking out nine while allowing just one hit to earn the tough loss. Junior pitcher Madiisyn Davis, a UCF commit, countered with five strikeouts and allowed just one hit to pick up the win.
Aside from a first inning walk, a two out single in the third and an error in the fifth which allowed a runner to reach in the sixth, the Hurricanes struggled to get runners on base as Davis held them in check retiring 21 of the 24 batters, while allowing no runner to advance past first base.
Humphrey was just as effective retiring 21 of the 25 batters she faced, including getting out jams in both the second and fourth inning.
Goddard singled to right to lead off the second and Mifsud singled to right putting runners on second and third with out, however Humphrey got out of the jam with consecutive strike outs.
In the fifth with one out, Goddard was hit by a Humphrey pitch and stole second to put herself in scoring position again, but again Humphrey was able to get out it again thanks to a ground out and strikeout. After hitting Goddard, Humphrey got into a groove retiring eight in a row heading into the seventh.
For the third consecutive plate appearance, Goddard reached first thanks to a lead off walk, however this time it would come back to bite Humphrey. Goddard stole second and advanced to third on Angela Agurkis sac bunt bringing Mifsud to the plate again.
Mifsud nearly laid down the perfect suicide squeeze but fortunately for Humphrey the ball went foul. A pitch later with Goddard running on contact, Mifsud got a good swing and sent a ball to second baseman Olivia Hanson, who immediately fired home to catcher Brianna Loggs. Goddard beat the throw and was able to slide under or around Loggs and score the winning run.
For Gainesville, which entered the week No. 1 in the Prep Zone softball poll ahead of No. 2 Oakleaf and also nationally ranked, it was a second straight night of frustration after dropping a 1-0 district loss to Columbia on Thursday, its third loss in a span of nine days after being previously undefeated.
For Oakleaf, its another impressive win in a stretch of a week’s worth of games that ended with the Knights knocking off No. 15 West Nassau, No. 4 Keystone Heights and now No. 1 Gainesville.
Oakleaf (11-2) travels to Fletcher (March 28) and Fleming Island (March 29) next week before traveling to the Kissimmee Klassic and defending its title again. First things first though a win over Fleming Island would lock up the No. 1 seed for the Knights in the upcoming District 2-8A tournament April 23-26, which they will host.
