SPRING HILL – The Springstead Eagles (14-8) fell 2-1 to the Royal Knights (13-11) and fell just short of a district title at the Eagles Nest on Thursday. The Red, White, and Blue nearly rallied in the closing frames, but the visitors narrowly grounded the Eagles in the end.
“Too little too late,” Eagles Assistant Coach Abby Oliver noted after the game.
Throughout the season, the team has been strongest on the defensive side of the ball. They won many matchups with “two amazing pitchers on the mound who let very few hits in… but offense is what wins games and that is what we didn’t have tonight,” Coach Oliver continued.
Add in a pair of points for River Ridge in the third inning, and the visitors had just enough offense to outlast the Eagles. It truly was just enough. The Royal Knight’s most productive stretch by far was made up of a trio of consecutive hits in the top of the third.
With two outs and two strikes, Royal Knights’ Senior Lauren Kreshon belted a double to the right field fence before Sophomore Paityn Vanfossen’s double down the third base line ran Kreshon home. Add in Junior Pitcher Lilly Jackson’s RBI single directly after, and that was largely all they would manage for the entire evening thanks to Sophomore Pitcher Alivia Miller’s strong night on the mound.
That is not to say they did not get close. Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh inning, and Springstead had one more chance.
After the first two batters were quickly struck out, Rivera got on base again with a single. On the next at bat, the Royal Knights committed an error that allowed Freshman Audrina Savarese on base and Rivera all the way to third.
Savarese would then steal second on the next at bat. The tying and scoring runs were in prime position, but an out of bounds pop fly would be caught out to end the game. Despite the heartbreaking finish, Coach Oliver talked about the positive impact their lone Senior Pitcher Ava Miller has left on the team.
“[Ava] has been a leader since I have known her, since she has been here,” the assistant coach said.”Especially this year, she has stepped up and she has really tried to make a positive culture among the team. So, she’s done a really good job stepping up there.”
She has left a great example for the rest of her team. Juniors like Rivera are stepping into leadership roles and freshmen are “always willing to do whatever it takes to help support the team.” The future looks bright for Eagles softball.
This season is not done yet, though. The Eagles found out Thursday they will be getting another shot at finishing their strong season off right when they travel to face the Deltona Wolves at 7 PM on Thursday.
