EAST MANATEE — It was a heck of a run all season long for the Braden River softball team: 21 wins, an undefeated run through district play, a second straight district championship, a chance to host a first-round regional playoff game.
Not bad for a four-year-old program. And for five innings on Tuesday night against Bartow, the dream continued for the Pirates, who went run-for-run with one of the state’s elite programs, scratching out a 3-2 lead only six outs from the finish line.
Then the wheels came off.
It didn’t take much. Against quality competition, it usually doesn’t. No sooner had the Pirates claimed their first lead of the game than Bartow tied the score four batters into the top of the sixth.
Then, with two outs and a 3-3 score, a routine ground ball to second that should have ended the threat pulled a Billy Buckner, rolling into right field while two runs scored, and just like that Bartow was on its way to a 13-3 win in the Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinals.
“We knew coming in we had to play a near perfect game,” Braden River coach Doug Powell said. “We were in the game, we were right there, right where we wanted, to have a lead after five innings.
“One little mistake against a team like that, it just snowballs.”
Everything fell apart for the Pirates (21-6) over those final two innings, as Bartow sent 20 batters to the plate, scoring 11 times and earning a trip to Lake Wales for Friday’s regional semifinal.
The season ended for Braden River exactly where it did last year, only with a different set of circumstances.
Last year, hosting Bartow in the first round of regionals, the Pirates lost 1-0. Comparing scores, Powell at least saw progress in the way his hitters battled Bartow freshman pitcher Courtney Putnam, collecting six hits and three runs through the first five innings.
Braden River hit the ball hard most of the night, but a solid Bartow defense — especially the rangy play of center fielder Gwen Jones, who made several sharp line drives look like routine outs — was up to the challenge.
“We’ve worked on that all year, hitting the ball right up the middle,” Powell said. “That didn’t work out (Tuesday night).”
The Pirates also didn’t get their customary strong pitching performance from Trisha Zuknick, who surrendered 11 hits and five walks with two strikeouts while allowing six runs, three earned, over 5 2/3 innings.
Still, Zuknick kept the Jackets off the scoreboard for three innings and then the Pirates answered 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to apply the pressure.
Problem was, Bartow doesn’t get rattled. This is a program that has won seven state championships since 1997 — when its current seniors were in first grade — and was poised and ready to pounce on Braden River’s late mistakes. At one point over the final two innings, the Jackets had 10 consecutive batters reach base.
“The defense just wasn’t there tonight,” Powell said. “We had a great season. We surpassed last season in every way, and that was our goal. The major goal was to win this game. It just didn’t happen.”
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