As the final month of prep softball’s regular season began, Keys teams refused to lose.
Key West added to their win column last week after routing the Rays of Mater Bay Academy 20-5 on April 2. The Conchs piled on 18 hits, with Kaleaya Dickerson and Tavyn Gage accounting for three each. Chloe Kongos, Kaleya Cervantes and Alexa Condella added two each. Ryleigh Harnish earned the win on the mound, fanning three, walking nine and allowing two hits over three innings. Brianna Brenner put in four innings of work in the circle, striking out five, walking one and giving up just one hit. The team stands at 10-6 with a little over a week to go in the regular season.
Coral Shores improved to 3-4 after a two-game win streak starting with the Patriots of Colonial Christian. Despite it being April Fool’s Day, the 33-24 score was legit. The ’Canes stacked up 20 hits, with four from Presley Bagwell and three each from Jenna Mandozzi, Chloie Stanley and Addison Gady. Mira Jones earned the win pitching four and one-third innings, striking out seven, walking six and giving up four hits. Bagwell spent two and two-thirds innings in the circle, fanning five, walking six and surrendering seven hits to the Patriots.
On April 4, the Hurricanes picked up their second road win of the week against Ransom Everglades. Jones had the hot bat for Coral Shores, registering four hits. Estevez added three more to the team total of 12, with Arianna Talan driving in four runs in the 21-11 victory. Bagwell spent five innings pitching, striking out eight, walking nine and surrendering seven hits.
The ’Canes were not the only Keys team to bring home a win from Ransom last week; the Dolphins of Marathon defeated the Raiders 22-10 on April 2. The Fins had 16 hits, with Maeve Merryman and Madelyn Thornton leading the charge. The pair had three hits apiece and Merryman drove in five runs while Thornton had four RBIs. Elena Eubank, Trinity McLeod, Sara Robinson and Elianys Roque had two hits each.
The following day, Marathon hosted Miami Country Day, a team they suffered a mercy-rule loss to just one month prior. This time around, the Fins were ready and did their best to capitalize on five Spartan errors. Merryman, Thornton and Elena Eubank had the Fins’ only hits, but it would be enough. Thornton held the Spartans to a single hit, and Marathon’s defense held steady to safeguard the win. Now 8-4, Marathon, like the rest of Monroe County’s teams, must continue their winning ways to boost their power rankings in hopes of securing a top spot in district playoffs later this month.
