Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Senior becomes first in program history to win states

By Kyle LoJacono

Faith Woodard faced nothing but pressure during the Class 4A state track and field meet May 4 at the University of North Florida.

The Freedom senior was the defending state high jump champion and entered as the only girl in Florida to have cleared 5-feet, 10-inches this season. Constant wind and rain during the meet added to the stress, but Woodard would not be denied.

The 6-foot-2 Riverview transfer did not scratch until all of her competitors had been eliminated and repeated as champion by clearing 5-06. She is the first in the program’s 11-year history to win a state title.

“Not a lot of people can say that they’re a state champion, so to come back and defend and win two in a row is really exciting,” Woodard said.

Woodard said the weather did prevent her from building up the kind of speed she needs to put up her best performance, but was happy with what she did considering the elements.

“With the wind and rain I just wanted to be able to say I did my best, and I did,” Woodard said. “I believe that nothing happens by chance. If it’s raining, it’s raining. Can’t do anything about it.”

The title gives Woodard four state high jump medals after tying for sixth and finishing runner-up as a freshman and sophomore, respectively, while at Riverview.

The two-time state champion started running track while in sixth grade at Rodgers Middle.

“I did just straight running events in middle school,” Woodard said. “No high jump at all.”

She started high jumping at the suggestion of her mother Lora.

“She actually did high jump back in her day, and she said one day that I should do high jump,” Woodard said. “I figured why not. … When I started as a freshman my form was not the best. I was just jumping over, and it was not really good. Each year it’s gotten better.”

She ends her high school career with four district titles along with three Hillsborough County and regional championships.

“I never thought I could do this,” Woodard said. “I just came out as a freshman thinking I did track in middle school, so I’ll just keep doing it.”

Woodard, a Georgetown University signee for basketball, said states is her last track meet.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to juggle basketball and track and Georgetown,” Woodard said.

She said she was thinking a lot about it being the end of her high school career on the drive to Jacksonville.

“I was crying coming up here because I could not believe that this was my last high school event, period, not just for track,” Woodard said. “Just to know that this is it, and it’s here, it was definitely kind of scary.”

Woodard also helped lead Freedom basketball to the first final four appearance in program history and was named The Laker/Lutz News Girls Basketball Player of the Year following the season. She said her senior campaign was more than she could have hoped for.

“I wasn’t expecting all of this to happen,” Woodard said. “It exceeded everything I thought it would be. Didn’t know what I was walking into, but this has been by far the best year out of all my high school years.”

Fellow Patriots senior Sandra Akachukwu finished as the state runner-up in the high jump (18-05.25), which is her best placing at states in any event.

The Western Kentucky University signee ends her high school career with five state medals.

By Kyle LoJacono

Freedom senior pitcher/first baseman Katlin Hall had difficulty describing how much winning in the 11-year program’s first trip to the regional semifinals meant to her.

The Wharton transfer hit a two-run homer in the first inning and picked up the save to help the Patriots (20-3) beat the defending Class 7A state champion Chamberlain (21-8) May 2. The victory comes just weeks after Freedom earned its first playoff berth.

“There are no words to describe the feelings of the happiness I have,” said Hall, who is also playing in her first postseason. “I never would have thought I’d be a part of something like this.”

The contest started April 30, but two rain delays forced portions to be played May 1 and 2.

“I’ve been in games that went over 10 innings, but not three days,” said senior second baseman Caroline Whiteside.

Freedom never trailed in the semifinals despite the weather, magnitude of the game and the pressure of playing the defending state champs.

“They’re 13 kids who want to win every day,” said Patriots coach Autum Hernandez. “We talked today before we got in the vans to come here about staying focused, and the same focus we had two days ago was what we needed today.”

Freedom got on the board in the top of the first inning thanks to Hall’s two-strike, two-out homer with Whiteside on second. Hall said she was targeting a specific pitch from Chiefs senior pitcher Rachel Dwyer, a University of Virginia signee.

“I was looking inside even though I know she likes to go outside,” Hall said. “She came inside on the first pitch, and I fouled it off, but then she came back inside.”

Patriots pitcher Grace Street worked around a leadoff single from Zalonzia Canady to get out of the first inning.

Freedom added to its lead in the second inning by drawing four walks from Dwyer. The decisive blow was dealt when Whiteside drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to score Kayla Maczuga to go up 3-0.

“I was just looking for my pitch to hit,” said Whiteside, a Hillsborough Community College signee. “It was a 3-1 count, and that’s definitely a hitter’s count. Rachel had walked two people in a row right before me. I wasn’t going to swing at just anything, and luckily it worked out that it scored that run.”

Whiteside said her hands were shaking as she stepped to the plate.

“Thought about it being the regional semifinals against Chamberlain and this could be my last high school game,” Whiteside said. “It was nerve racking, but it was a once in a lifetime thing, and we all wanted to take advantage of it.”

Chamberlain responded with two runs in the third inning. Hernandez brought in Hall in relief, who threw four and a third scoreless innings.

Freedom center fielder Rachel Carlson added an insurance run with an RBI double in the top of the sixth to score Elon University commit Ashley Wilson from second to take a 4-2 lead.

“That was a big run,” Hernandez said. “We’ve talked to Rachel about being aggressive and having a quicker bat. Rachel is a triple threat. She can bunt for a base hit, she can slap and she has power when she uses it. That was a huge inning for us, and it was again the bottom of our lineup coming through for us.”

Hall faced a major jam in the sixth inning when the Chiefs loaded the bases with two walks and a single, but the senior forced Canady to ground out to shortstop Caitlin Harper to end the threat.

Hall pitched a perfect seventh by inducing three ground-ball outs.

“In the beginning of the year we focused on offense, but lately it’s been our defense that has been carrying us,” Hernandez said. “That’s a great feeling to know when our bats aren’t carrying us our defense can pull us through.”

The Patriots and Chiefs split their season series 2-2, with neither team winning a home game. The Class 7A-District 9 rivals each scored 13 total runs in those four contests.

“Chamberlain is a great team,” Whiteside said. “I wouldn’t say that they’re better than us, and I wouldn’t say that we’re better than them. They were all close games.”

Chamberlain won the district title 4-2 by defeating Freedom April 18. The loss was more difficult for the Patriots because it was played on their home field, but all agreed they would rather have the regional semifinals win.

“They can have the district championship,” Hall said. “Winning districts would have been huge, but I’d rather have this win than that win.”

Freedom won its regional finals game at Sarasota 5-1 May 4 to earn a spot in the final four. Whiteside hit a two-strike, two-out grand slam, the first home run of her high school career, to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning.

The Patriots play Tallahassee Chiles May 8 in the 7A semifinals. The state championship game is May 9. Both games start at 7 p.m. and are at the Vero Beach Sports Village.

By Kyle LoJacono

Academy at the Lakes softball fought back from a two-run deficit to defeat Deltona Trinity Christian 3-2 in the Class 2A regional semifinals April 30, winning the home contest in walk-off fashion.

The win advances the Wildcats (10-5) to consecutive regional finals.

“There was no panic when we were down,” said second-year academy coach Jerry English. “They knew they’d have a couple more chances to win this game.”

Wildcats sophomore catcher Skyler Boynton drove in senior Maria Aumaitre from third with a single through the right side of the infield with two outs in the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie. It is the academy’s first walk-off hit of the season and Skyler’s first in high school.

“I just wanted to make hard contact, because as long as you do that you never know what can happen and where it will go,” Skyler said. “Luckily we won the game because of it. … Once I saw that I got a hard hit I knew it was 50/50 that she would field it or not. I just ran to first, I saw Maria rounding third and the ball was still in the outfield. I knew we’d won, and it was exciting because I knew I’d done my job.”

Sydney Boynton, Skyler’s older sister, gave her a pep talk just before the catcher stepped into the batter’s box.

“I told her just single contact is all we need, preferably to the outfield so Maria could score,” said Sydney, a senior pitcher. “I said that I’d done what I needed to do the inning before, and now it’s up to you, and she did.”

Sydney got the scoring started for the Wildcats in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to score Katherine Smith to cut the Eagles’ (10-8) lead to 2-1.

“I was a little bit nervous because in my first at bat I did not do very well, popped up to the first baseman,” Sydney said. “I drew a walk in the second at bat, so going into that last at bat I didn’t have a lot of confidence and just wanted to get it in play so that we could score at least one of the runners.”

Senior first baseman Andrea Mauger tied the contest one batter later by bringing in Lauren Evans from third base with a ground out to Trinity first baseman Katherine Brunning.

“I just wanted to get the ball in play,” Mauger said. “I got out, but I knew if I put it on the ground to the right side, then Lauren would be able to score and tie the game.”

The victory allowed Mauger to play in her fifth regional finals game while in high school, the other four in basketball. She said she wasn’t nervous stepping to the plate before her game-tying RBI despite playing in her first softball season since age 10.

“Whenever I have a situation like that I just know I have to do it,” Mauger said. “I had to hit the ball if I wanted to win, so I went in with the mentality that I was going to hit the ball no matter what.”

Wildcats assistant Tom Haslam, who is also the school’s athletic director, used one word to describe Mauger — winner.

“She told me she would drive in that run when she was going to the plate, and I had no doubt in my mind that she would,” Haslam said.

Sydney worked all seven innings, recording six strikeouts to one walk despite having her changeup, which she calls her best pitch, inconsistent.

“When it’s on it sets up all my other pitches, and I was just lucky to get out of this game,” Sydney said. “The changeup was ending up in the dirt a lot, so I had to use my riseball a lot more and a little bit of my dropball, and also my screwball and curveball.”

The Wildcats hosted Quincy Munroe May 6, but results were not available by press time.

By Kyle LoJacono

Tyler Watson captured two individual medals and another in the 4×400-meter relay during the Class 4A state track and field meet May 4 at the University of North Florida.

The Wharton senior started her day taking seventh in the 100 hurdles (15.02 seconds) and added the other with a fourth-place finish in the 300 hurdles (45.26).

“It was a really good day,” Watson said. “Wish I could have done a little better in the 100 hurdles, but I’m really happy.”

Meet organizers opted to go with timed finals run with two heats in every event instead of prelims leading to finals because of bad weather projected for the evening.

Athletes had to quickly change mentality from simply advancing out of the prelims to running for a state title, with the 100 hurdles as the first track event.

“I just told myself to push as hard as I could because there’s no prelims,” Watson said. “I came here wanting to get three medals, and I had to win this one first to do that.”

Watson took seventh running out of the slow heat while dealing with steady wind and rain.

“I couldn’t really think about the weather because it was right to the finals, so I just had to go, go, go,” Watson said. “I just had to stay focused. I had to race against the clock because I was in the slow heat. I had to get out fast.”

Fellow Wildcat Mikayla Barber, a senior, took third in the 300 hurdles (44.35).

Barber and Watson have been near the top of every hurdles race they’ve competed in this year, including splitting the regional titles with Barber taking the 100 and Watson claiming the 300.

“This has been a great season,” Barber said. “It taught me a lot about competition with my own teammate, and that really made me better. Hopefully I’ll keep using those techniques as I go into college and better myself.”

Barber said she is usually stronger in the 100 hurdles, but she was unable to medal in the event after stumbling near the start. She said she came out “with a better mindset” in the 300 hurdles.

“It was hard to come right out and do timed finals, and then when I slipped coming out of the blocks and not being focused really hurt me,” Barber said. “I didn’t want that to happen again.”

Barber and Watson teamed with senior Stevondria Hardy and junior Kiana Outen to take sixth in the 4×400 (4:00.36), the meet’s final event.

Wharton’s other state medalist was Britainy Smith.

The senior pole vaulter earned her first state medal in her second state appearance with a fifth-place performance by clearing 11-feet, matching her personal record (PR).

“I’m really happy, especially considering the weather conditions,” Smith said. “I wanted to PR, but it didn’t happen. … Fifth place is definitely good today considering the number of attempts I took. It was a rough day, but I’m happy with the outcome.”

Pole vaulters began warming up around 12:30 p.m., but worsening weather forced the pit to be shut down for about three hours.

“I had warmed up a few times, and it was really hectic,” Smith said. “I’ve just been trying to relax and focusing on what I need to do. I think I did fairly well.”

Smith, who plans to walk on at the University of Alabama, won Western Conference, Hillsborough County and district titles and placed second at regionals this year.

“I had a really good season, and I couldn’t do it without coach (Wes) Newton helping me every step of the way,” Smith said. “I’ve only progressed since the beginning of this year and since my freshman year. I’m really excited for what will happen in college.”

By Jeff Odom

Logan LaPace has become the Steinbrenner baseball team’s go-to-guy on the mound in clutch situations.

Faced with the task of starting the Warriors’ (24-2) first playoff game in program history May 4, the senior right-handed pitcher delivered a near-flawless complete-game performance as Steinbrenner dominated Seminole 6-1 in the Class 7A region quarterfinals.

“It’s just awesome to know that no other Steinbrenner baseball team has been this far, and it means a lot to me and all of my teammates who have put in just as much work and effort as I have,” LaPace said. “Even though I threw a gem, they still put up six runs on one of the best pitchers in the state.”

It was also Steinbrenner coach John Crumbley’s first postseason victory since 2006 when he was at Jesuit.

Crumbley said he was proud of his team for the work put in to stay focused after the game was postponed two days because of rain.

“It feels awesome, man,” said Crumbley, the only coach in program’s four-year history. “The kids worked hard; we worked hard getting the field ready, and it’s just tremendous to take another step to be one of the 16 or 17 teams that are still playing.”

The Warriors jumped on Warhawks (20-8) ace Nick Nolan in the first inning by stringing together three hits to take a 2-0 lead.

University of South Florida commit Kevin Merrell singled down the first base line with one out and moved to second on Cole Gordon’s base hit up the middle. Jesse Haney drove in Merrell with an RBI double, and Mijon Cummings plated another run two pitches later with a sacrifice fly.

Seminole cut the lead to one in the third inning when Corey Baptist smacked an RBI single.

Steinbrenner’s offense wouldn’t keep it that way for long in the bottom of the third.

Merrell singled to right and stole second with one out, followed by Gordon’s RBI base hit to right to extend the lead to two. Haney broke the game open when he crushed a two-run home run to left field to make it 5-1.

“I was just looking for a pitch to hit and it was 3-2,” Haney said. “When it got to that point, he had to come to me. I was ready for it.”

The Warriors added an insurance run in the fourth when Alex Hanson singled home Mikey McGuire, who had been hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a passed ball.

LaPace said the run support gave him confidence.

“We kind of feed off each other’s positive and good vibes,” LaPace said. “When one person does something good and positive it kind of has a domino effect, and we all build off of that and push ourselves to one-up what they just did.”

LaPace sat down 11 in a row and didn’t allow another hit until the seventh inning.

“Logan has done that most of the time for us this year,” Crumbley said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to go out there and give him an opportunity to do it again.”

Steinbrenner hosts Wiregrass Ranch in the region semifinals May 7 at 7 p.m.

Gators fall at Winter Haven

The Land O’ Lakes baseball team had its season ended at Winter Haven in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals for the second straight year, falling 12-2 in five innings. The Gators (21-7) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but the Blue Devils (24-4) responded with three in the bottom of the frame to earn a lead they never lost.

By Don Trello

The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

Wiregrass Ranch made program history May 4 with its 5-2 win at Countryside in the Class 7A regional baseball quarterfinals.

“It’s the first time ever (the baseball team) has gone this far,” said Bulls coach Jeff Swymer. “It’s a huge win because it can change the culture of the program.”

The Wiregrass Ranch (18-9) victory was even more impressive considering the Bulls have one senior on the roster.

Sophomore left-hander Austin Drury got the win in relief of his brother Zach, a junior.

Austin relieved Zach with the bases loaded and one run in with one out in the first inning. He allowed an RBI-single to Jack Skantze that tied the score 2-2 before striking out Robert Robicheau and getting Mike Adams to ground out to end the inning.

“I definitely had some nerves coming in with the bases loaded, but perfect defense gets the job done,” Austin said. “I definitely settled down after the first inning. This is the biggest win I’ve had.”

Austin (3-1) pitched five scoreless innings, allowed four hits, struck out five, walked two and hit one batter.

“My brother was almost unbelievable; he did an awesome job throwing strikes,” Zach said. “It’s a huge, huge win for the program.”

Zach was not to be outdone by his younger brother. The elder Drury socked a two-out, two-run single in the second inning that scored Chris Parra and Austin, which gave the Bulls a 4-2 lead they never lost.

“The players on the bench were picking up on the catcher,” Zach said about the 2-2 pitch he hit to give the Bulls the lead. “The players called my name and number, and I knew a curve was coming, and I got it.”

Junior Ryan Girard relieved Austin with one out and a runner on second base in the sixth inning.

Girard walked Jonathan Feibus, got Charlie Skantze on a foul pop out and hit Zach Taylor to load the bases. He retired Christian Townsend on a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

“I felt good about Ryan Girard in that spot,” Austin said. “He’s a great pitcher.”

Girard, who earned his first save of the season, retired the first two batters in the seventh inning before a walk and a single brought Adams to the plate representing the tying run.

Adams ran the count to 3-2 before lifting a fly ball to center field that Austin caught for the final out of the game.

“Before the game, I was thinking about us going this far (in the postseason), and it was a pleasure,” Austin added. “This was a very fun game.”

Wiregrass scored a pair on unearned runs against starting and losing pitcher Jake Mielock (7-4) in the first inning.

Marcus Guzman singled with one out, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and stole third base. Zach popped out to first base, but Michael Campoamor walked and stole second with two outs.

Shane Bucenell hit a ground ball to shortstop, and Charlie Skantke made a wild throw to first allowing Guzman and Campoamor to score.

Wiregrass Ranch added an insurance run in the fourth inning off Townsend, who relieved Mielock in the third.

Girard reached first on an infield hit and went to second on Parra’s sacrifice bunt. Girard advanced to third on Austin Drury’s ground out then scored when Guzman doubled.

Countryside (17-11) was retired in order in the third and fifth innings. The Cougars stranded 12 base runners in the game.

“We made every inning interesting,” Swymer said. “I don’t know if our pitchers knew what a first-pitch strike was, but we battled and got a couple swings and misses.”

Swymer was pleased with the way his pitchers fought.

“Austin was stellar; he’s done that all year long,” Swymer said. “Girard is another junior arm. He’s come on late this year. We were really gritty today.”

The win sets up a matchup at Class 7A-District 9 rival Steinbrenner May 7 at 7 p.m. The Warriors have swept the season series with the Bulls this season, including a 4-0 victory for the district championship.

Wildcats out in regional quarters

Wesley Chapel baseball’s return to the playoffs for the first time in two seasons was ended in the Class 5A regional quarterfinals May 2 with a 5-0 loss at Hernando. The Wildcats (19-9) fell behind 1-0 in the first after senior pitcher Chase Ingram gave up a leadoff single and followed with three walks. He responded by striking out the side to end the threat, but Wesley Chapel was unable to muster any offense.

Gators fall at Winter Haven

The Land O’ Lakes baseball team had its season ended at Winter Haven in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals for the second straight year, falling 12-2 in five innings. The Gators (21-7) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but the Blue Devils (24-4) responded with three in the bottom of the frame to earn a lead they never lost.

By Kyle LoJacono

Land O’ Lakes resident Nikki Carroll won the Class 2A state pole vault championship by clearing 11-feet at the University of North Florida April 27.

The Tampa Catholic sophomore matched her personal record (PR), which she set while winning the Class 2A-District 9 championship two weeks earlier. Ransom Everglades sophomore Nati Sheppard also cleared 11, but Carroll had one fewer attempt during the meet to take the state title.

“She missed on one of her earlier attempts, and I had a clean meet,” Carroll said. “That gave me the advantage because I didn’t miss until 11-06. I missed those, but so did she. … I couldn’t believe it, and then I heard my mom screaming from the bleachers. It was such a good feeling.”

Carroll started pole vaulting the summer going into her freshman year, but a hip flexor injury kept her from competing in all but one meet last season.

She had no lingering effects from the injury this season and said she had a lot of confidence after winning districts, but the state champion suffered a setback at regionals when she took third place.

Carroll cleared 9-06 at regionals, which tied her with two other girls. She advanced because she had fewer misses than either Robinson’s Emily Vaughan and Merritt Island’s Samantha Olson.

“I had a tough day at regionals, and I practiced so hard after that,” Carroll said. “Every day between regionals and state I worked for hours.”

Carroll said she felt prepared to compete with the others who advanced to states, but had to get over some early jitters.

“I saw the heights of all the other girls going into the meet, and I was seeded almost last,” Carroll said. “I knew that I could jump high because I’d been practicing so hard since regionals, so I thought I had a chance. …When I got there I was a little nervous, but once I cleared my first height (9), I was good after that.”

Carroll said she had the goal of finishing her career with one state title but is now re-evaluating what she wants to accomplish before graduating.

“It makes me feel so good, and I have so many more goals to break now that I’ve seen what I can do,” Carroll said. “States was one of my goals that I wanted to win before I graduated, and now I want to win more than one. I still want to clear 11-07 and set a school record. That’s good motivation. I couldn’t do that at states, so I’ve got that to go for.”