3 Polk teams reach semis of Bartow softball tournament

AUBURNDALE — Polk County teams went 2-0 in three of the four groups on Friday to set up today's semifinals at Bartow's Tournament of Champions play at Bartow High School and the 555 Sports Complex.

Bartow, Auburndale and Lake Region all went undefeated.

In the semifinals, Bartow plays Lake Region at Bartow High School, and Auburndale plays Winter Springs at the 555 Complex. Both games are at 10:30 a.m.

The championship game will be at 12:30 p.m. at Bartow High School.

GROUP A: Bartow wins 2

After routing Sarasota Booker in the first game, Bartow rode Red Oxley's four-hitter to defeat St. Petersburg Canterbury, 4-1.

Oxley struck out 16 batters and walked just one.

Bartow took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on McKenzie Gibson's two-out double that drove in Kailey Guethle and Emily Hendrix.

Morgan Grubb's two-run single in the fourth inning drove in Hendrix and Oxley to give Bartow a 4-0 lead.

Bartow finished with six hits, three of them doubles by Oxley, Gibson and Mari Stephens.

GROUP B: Lake Region sweeps

Lake Region edged Fort Myers, 8-6, in the first game then rolled past Winter Haven, 9-3, to advance to the semifinals.

Against Fort Myers, Kaley Fail went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs to lead the Thunder's 10-hitt attack. BreAsia Thomas dbouled and drove in two runs, and Kylee Baldwin and Ciara Justice each had a pair of hits.

Lake Region led 8-4 going into the bottom of the seventh when Fort Myers rallied for two runs. Alex Wright, playing in her first game since returning from an injury, recorded the final two outs.

Wright then pitched five innings and allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in the Thunder's victory over Winter Haven. Gina Gallegos pitched the final two innings.

Justice slammed a three-run homer in the game. Wright helped her own cause with a pair of hits and drove in two runs, and Thomas singled with two RBIs.

For Winter Haven, Kendal Hobbs went 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Reese Wells, Tori Hurles and Mariah Dawkins all doubled.

Winter Haven began the day with a 1-0 loss to Fort Myers. Winter Haven pitcher Reese Wells pitched a gem, allowing just three hits with three strikeouts and a walk, but one of the hits was a solo homer by Fort Myers pitcher Julia Knowler.

Wells went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Hurles doubled. Kaprice Leonard also went 1-for 3 

GROUP C: Auburndale cruises

Auburndale received stellar pitching from Gena Stutz and Kassidy   Pontbriant with plenty of offensive support.

In the first game, Stutz through a three-hitter and struck out nine in the Bloodhounds 11-0 victory over Tampa Catholic.

The Bloodhounds broke away with five runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth and finished with 14 hits.

Pontrbiant went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored, and Victoria Charles went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Jenna Dhiffoedl doubled and drove in two runs, and Mea Dyer and Zee Jones each had a pair of hits.

In the second game, Pontbriant pitched a two-hitter and struck out 13 in the Bloodhounds 8-0 win over Braden River. She also doubled.

Kagan Dudney went 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored, and Charles went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Bloodhounds' 10-hit attack.

GROUP D: Lake Wales splits; McKeel drops 2

Lexi Thomas and Cameron Dicks combined for a four-hitter as Lake Wales opened with a 12-2 victory over McKeel. Thomas allowed two runs on three hits in three innings, and Dicks came in and pitched two scoreless innings.

Dicks also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a doubled and an RBI. Hallie Clark-Frazier singled, drove in two runs and scored three runs. Zamya McBurrows doubled and drove in a run, and Sydnie Whitaker, Keira Morris and Kyle Grainger had had a hit.

For McKeel, Charli Warren doubled and drove in a run, and Isabella Davis and Kerissa Howell also had one double.

Lake Wales then came up short in a 5-3 loss to Winter Springs. Trailing 5-0, the Highlanders rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Lilah Denton and Morris led off with back-to-back singles then scored on Lydia Denton's double. Lydia Denton later scored on an error but that's all the damage Lake Wales could do as Winter Springs clinched Group D.

Winter Springs opened with a 7-0 victory over McKeel. The Wildcats managed just two singles, one from Warren and one from Maddy Murphy.