Miller and Eagles Run Rule Hornets in Six

The Springstead Eagles (4-0) dominated from start to finish in a 13-3 route of the Weeki Wachee Hornets (2-1) on Tuesday night. The two softball squads came into the matchup on incendiary starts despite the small sample sizes, but it was Weeki Wachee who ultimately left disappointed. The home team scored early and often to mercy-rule their opponents in the sixth inning. Springstead Head Coach Craig Swartout praised the play of his pitchers so far and discussed Junior pitcher Ava Miller’s strong play on Tuesday.

“Both our pitchers have been really good,” Coach Swartout said. “Ava, she is just mentally really tough. The last two weeks, we have had games where it had been absolutely freezing cold and she has been sick for the last two weeks. […] They are just built a little different mentally. They are just really strong. [Ava] did not let things phase her tonight when they scored those couple runs. That did not bother her at all. She just went about her business.”

It was a busy night for sports at the Eagles’ Nest as multiple teams were playing at once, and it would be a busy night for the Hornets’ defense as well. To open the contest, Miller struck out a pair of batters while another was thrown out at first base. The Eagles got on the board in the initial inning after Sophomore Rachel Rivera got into scoring position by stealing second base on an errant pitch during Miller’s at bat. A bouncing hit by the junior advanced Rivera to third before a deep double to the fence ran Rivera home. While the Eagles would not log any points during the second period, Miller did strike out a trio of batters in quick succession during the frame to give the offense another chance to put up points.

With the top of the third came the visitors’ offense. As Miller had already struck out five batters, the Hornets came out with a different strategy: bunt. Sophomore Anna Taylor and Junior Emily Becker were thrown out at first after attempting back-to-back bunts before the next hit was caught out by the second baseman. The bottom of the third brought the first big wave for the home team. Despite two outs already being on the board, Junior pitcher Jade Thompson could not make it out of the inning. After Freshman Alivia Miller and Senior Sarah Tipton got on base, Senior Alexis Adelman hit a triple deep down the third base line to run the first two home. Next up was Senior Gabby McEnerney who proceeded to put one last point on the scoreboard before the end of the frame. Weeki Wachee was having some trouble corralling some bouncing hits and thrown balls and this greatly contributed to the Eagles building momentum and building their lead. Coach Swartout’s squad would tack on another point for good measure during the fourth inning thanks to a deep double by Senior Liberty Savarese.

Then came a challenge: the top of the fifth. With a 5-0 lead and a pitcher who had been playing lights out, the home team appeared to lose focus momentarily according to the Springstead coach. In doing so, they mishandle a pair of would-be throw outs at first that allowed Junior Reegan Miller and Thompson to make it on base. Taylor’s subsequent bunt saw the home team struggle again as they allowed a pair of runs to get across home plate during the exchange. All the Eagles needed was one out to escape the period and they got it on the next at bat to preserve the 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.

“You got to play seven,” said Coach Swartout. “You cannot play six innings and then take one off. We got a little careless, got a little lazy, Weeki took advantage of some of the mistakes we made, and they put two on the board. I think after that inning was over, we kind of said, ‘okay, this is a pretty good team we are playing, and we need to refocus in.’ Luckily, we were able to do that.”

Afterwards, the Red, White, and Blue responded in a big way. They exploded for six runs later in the frame thanks to four doubles, a triple, and multiple steals. The team knew they needed to lock back in, and they played like it. Sophomore ElleAnn Cephus’ double ran Sophomore Victoria Oetega home, Senior Kendal Wistling’s double put up another point by way of Cephus, and the older Miller’s triple ran two more home. Savarese and Adelman added two more and the Eagles held an 11-2 advantage with a runner on third. Thompson barely managed to escape the inning before the run rule took effect. Though, it would only take until the next period for the home team to put two more points on the board. A long Alivia Miller hit down the third baseline ran Freshman Haylee Brown home and completed the home team’s 10-point bludgeoning of Weeki Wachee.

Both teams will continue to dig into the first halves of their schedules with the Hornets preparing to host the Hernando Christian Academy Lions (3-0) on Thursday. They will look to get back on track against the Lions at 6:00 PM. Springstead will look to remain undefeated when they host the Wesley Chapel Wildcats (0-3) on Friday. Coach Swartout wants his players to “work on focusing for an entire game,” which he admits is a difficult task, but needs to happen if they want to be a championship team.