Final Four bound! Bayshore Bruins shut out Wauchula Hardee

WAUCHULA -- The popping sound was constant.

From the beginning, middle and end, it stayed loud.

The noise was from Miriam Schmoll's pitches.

And in the biggest game of Bayshore's softball season, those fastballs with pinpoint accuracy earned her a shutout en route to securing the program's second state semifinal appearance in three years following a 3-0 victory over host Wauchula Hardee in Friday's Class 5A-Region 3 championship.

The Bruins meet Glen St. Mary Baker County, which defeated DeFuniak Springs 4-0 on Friday, in a 5A state semifinal next

Friday at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach.

"Nothing fazes her," said Bayshore head coach Frank Luther, whose team also beat Hardee to reach the Final Four in 2014. "The magnitude of the game, she comes out and she throws her game. She lives with the outcome and she works so hard."

Schmoll got a little help, too.

Maddy Ramirez came up with two clutch defensive plays to thwart two late Hardee rallies, and the Bruins (17-3) supplied a little long ball to provide Schmoll's run support.

Schmoll was lights outs from the outset. She struck out the first five Wildcats she faced and struck out two batters or more in six of the seven innings.

"(Friday) I knew I could rely on that speed and I was going to throw it," said Schmoll, who struck out 14 batters. She allowed one walk and two hits.

Meanwhile, the offense got going early with LaShara James cranking a double to lead off the game. The University of South Florida-bounded senior was gunned down at the plate to end the inning when Hardee second baseman Hannah Carlton stopped Ramirez's single from leaving the infield.

James, though, launched a moon shot to left-center field for a solo home run in the third inning. JoJo Muldoon blasted a solo homer two batters later, and Courtney Ueltschi added a third solo homer with one out in the fourth inning.

Ueltschi also added a double and joined James and Schmoll with multi-hit games.

And Schmoll strolled along until Hardee caused some panic in the bottom of the fifth inning.

That's when Morgan Walters reached on an error and Sara Welch followed with hardest hit ball all night for the Wildcats - a double to the center field wall.

But with runners in scoring position in a tight, 3-0 game, is precisely where Schmoll thrives.

"I had already went through the batting lineup, so I knew which pitches we were going to hit with the certain batters," Schmoll said. "I was definitely relying on the curve ball in that inning, because we were going to hit the spins."

Schmoll struck out the next two batters, a fielder's choice loaded them when a rundown didn't yield the third out.

Instead, Hardee's top of the lineup came to the plate and that's when Ramirez made the first of two game-saving plays. Playing shallow at third base, a blooper caused her to turn, dart and snag before it landed safely to escape the jam.

"I was just praying that I was going to catch it, because the girl that was up to hit before laid the little dinker down and bases were loaded," Ramirez said. "I knew that if I wouldn't of caught it, one run could've scored, two runs could've scored and the score wouldn't of been 3-0. So I just knew turn, run and catch my hardest."

Then in the seventh inning with a runner on second and two outs, Lillian Salazar's grounder found its way to Ramirez. Nobody was covering first for the potential game-ending out, so Ramirez turned to third and found shortstop Susie Blue covering for the force out and a raucous celebration.

"Just deja vu," Ramirez said. "I was there my freshman year starting. It feels great to be back my junior going to play, just hoping this time it falls into our hands."

Jason Dill, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7017 or via email at jdill@bradenton.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason__Dill and like his Facebook page at Jason Dill Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Final Four bound! Bayshore Bruins shut out Wauchula Hardee ."