Eagles Falter Late, Fall to Palm Harbor University

SPRING HILL – Springstead came one play away from saving its lead late on Wednesday night, then one swing away from pulling off a comeback of its own.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, neither of those scenarios played out in their favor against visiting Palm Harbor University, leaving them to deal with a 3-2 loss.

“It was a great game. Two pretty good teams,” Springstead head coach Craig Swartout said. “I was very proud of the effort. I was very proud of us not giving up. The top of the seventh kind of really did us in. Couple of errors and they score two runs. But we didn’t give up.

“… That’s a masterclass pitching performance (by Springstead’s Alivia Miller). She deserved better, man. She deserved better. But you know what? We learn from this game. We’re going to get better, and we’re going to come back tomorrow and we’re going to do it again.”

Miller was indeed impressive, as the sophomore righthander struck out 12 in her seven innings, giving up six hits and one walk. Only one run she permitted was earned.

She also had a hand in the Eagles (9-3) taking a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the second by reaching on a leadoff single. Her courtesy runner Victoria Ortega advanced on a single by Audrina Savarese, a sac bunt by Lily Klink and came across on an Ella Ann Cephus groundout to second.

The Hurricanes (13-4) switched Mylie Stout from second base to the mound to start the third inning. She proceeded to strike out the side and retired the first 12 batters she faced through the end of the sixth.

Palm Harbor University finally tied the game in the sixth when Amelia Curry singled, then got to third on back-to-back sacrifice bunts. With two outs, Springstead nearly escaped but Ella Gill lifted a flyball to right field that was almost caught by the diving right fielder. She could not secure the ball and it rolled away allowing for a game-tying double.

“You can’t fault the effort. She made a heck of a play,” Swartout said. “A half inch here, a half inch there and it’s a new game.”

In the seventh, the ’Canes caught a break when a batter struck out yet reached on a passed ball. Another two-out hit to right field, this one a no-doubt triple to the fence off the bat of Stout, gave Palm Harbor University the lead. She would score when the shortstop committed a fielding error on a groundball by Curry.

Kaylana Lyons finally got to Stout with a home run to left field leading off the bottom of the seventh. The righty regrouped to whiff the next three batters, giving her 10 strikeouts over four innings in which she faced one over the minimum.

“I didn’t think that there was a whole lot of difference in between the pitchers,” Swartout said. “Sometimes just seeing somebody different at a different arm angle or different levels of pitches can make a big difference. I’m not going to make an excuse, she’s a good pitcher. We didn’t adjust right away. We adjusted late, just a little too late.”

Despite the defeat, this matchup likely boosted the Eagles’ strength of schedule, a critical part of the formula for determining postseason seeding and a possible regional berth. Palm Harbor University was 13th in Class 6A and 82nd in the state according to rankings released by the FHSAA at the beginning of the week. By comparison, the Eagles were 12th in 5A and 90th overall.

“They’re good. They’re real good,” Swartout said. “We’re going to play anybody that wants to play us. So if they’re 6A, 8A, I don’t care. If they want to play, we’ll play them. We’re not going to hide from anybody. 

“But strength of schedule is important. We’ve got some big games coming up. We’ve just got to get ready to come out tomorrow and play. But I’m very, very, very proud of the way the girls hung in there and played tonight.”