Manatee softball rallies in seventh to win on senior night

The Manatee High School softball team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge Riverview 4-3 on senior night Thursday.

Faith Miller’s bases-loaded walk with one out drove in the game-winning run, capping an inning in which the Hurricanes produced four singles. Kara Saylor drove in the first run with a single, and Kara Marsh drove in the tying run with another single.

The rally made a winner out of pitcher Zoe Rodgers (5-3), who relieved Miller with two outs in the top of fifth.

Saylor led the Hurricanes, going 3 for 4. Senior Bailey Spillane tripled and scored on the play on an overthrow of third, giving Manatee its run in the fourth.

Manatee, which has ridden a four-game winning streak to a 9-9 overall record next plays at Venice on Tuesday.

Lakewood Ranch 11, Rockledge 0: Logan Newton and Madi LoCastro combined on the five-inning shutout for the Mustangs in the Kissimmee Klassic. Mackenzie Meyer and Denali Schappacher collected two hits each in Lakewood Ranch’s 11-hit attack. The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead in the first and blew the game open with a seven-run third.

Baseball

Braden River 19, Tampa Bay Tech 1 (4): Colin Apgar hit a three-run homer to lead the Pirates (11-7) to a four-inning victory.

Gavin Root was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, James Boldin was 2 for 3 with an RBI, and John Bean was the winning pitcher.

Braden River hosts Brandon on Tuesday. The game can be seen on Spectrum Sports, channel 47.

Saint Stephen’s 6, St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep 3: The Falcons improved to 8-6 with a victory at Shorecrest. Ben Tobio (2 for 3, two stolen bases), Mike Madigan (2 for 4, three stolen bases) and Ben Schnur (3 for 3) led the offense. Jacob Eyre gave up six hits, two earned runs, three walks and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win. Shane Dempsey threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the save. He allowed two hits and fanned three against one walk.

Boys tennis

Saint Stephen’s 7, Out-of-Door Academy 0: Chenhe Li and Tianxiang Huang did not lose a game during straight-set victories, leading the visiting Falcons. After Matt Jones retired due to injury at No. 4 singles, Out-of-Door Academy (6-6) forfeited the remaining singles and both doubles matches.

Girls tennis

Saint Stephen’s 7, Out-of-Door Academy 0: MaryAnn Rompf defeated Sydney Sforza 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to spark the visiting Falcons (9-0). Laura Perazollo lost one game during her No. 4 singles match.

JUCO softball

State College of Florida 16-8, Polk State College 8-0: Taylor Engman was 3 for 5 with four RBIs to lead the Manatees to a 16-8, six-inning victory in the first game of a doubleheader.

Winning pitcher Carly Lucas improved to 12-9, Lindsey Hall was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Sammi Grat was 4 for 4 with an RBI.

SCF (29-19, 13-5 conference) won the second game 8-0 in six innings, with Grat (13-8) tossing her first shutout of the season. Hall was was 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and Tristen Pearson was 2 for 3.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Manatee softball rallies in seventh to win on senior night."