Telegraph Staff Writer
Interlachen scored five runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Bradford High School softball team 10-9 in the quarterfinals of the District 3-3A tournament on May 1 in Keystone Heights.
Bradford (8-11) squandered leads of 5-0 and 9-5 as it will now be the fourth seed Interlachen Rams (16-8) who advance to the Tuesday, May 2, semifinals to play top seed Pierson Taylor (13-9).
The Tornadoes, who were the tournament’s fifth seed, took a 2-0 lead in the first. Rylie Blankenship drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on an error. Masey Padgett hit an infield single, stole second and advanced to third when Addyson Hinds was put out at first after a dropped third strike. Padgett scored on a Kirsten Hodges single.
Padgett was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the third. Kassady Arnette entered to run for Padgett, stealing second and advancing to third on a Hinds ground out. After Takeirra Bakken walked, Hodges ground into a double play, but Arnette scored before the final out was recorded, making the score 3-0.
In the top of the fourth, Keegan Yowell drew a one-out walk and scored on an Amber Wynn double. Wynn advanced to third on a Kolee Lemire ground out before scoring on a passed ball for a 5-0 lead.
Up to that point, Interlachen had been limited to one hit by Blankenship, who started in the circle. She gave way to Yowell to start the bottom of the fourth. The Rams responded with a leadoff double from Jasmine Smith and a single from Kaitlyn Dillard. A ground-ball error allowed one run to score. One out later, Interlachen got an infield single from Ashlynn Poole to load the bases. Alyssa Mathews and Baileigh Ridley each hit an RBI single, while Saige Culpan drove in a run on a ground out. An error on Ridley’s hit allowed another run to score, tying it up at 5-5.
Bradford didn’t waste any time retaking the lead. Hinds and Bakken hit back-to-back singles to lead off the fifth. Hodges reached on a dropped third strike, loading the bases for Kallie Yowell, who drove in two runs on a single.
Kallie Yowell led off the seventh with a double. Wynn and Madison Highland hit back-to-back singles, with Highland’s hit scoring Yowell. Blankenship hit a single to score Wynn and put the Tornadoes up 9-5.
Wynn finished the game 3 for 4, while Blankenship, Hinds, Padgett and Kallie Yowell each went 2 for 4.
Blankenship, who reentered the circle after the fourth, had given up three hits and struck out three in five innings, but she got in trouble in the bottom of the seventh. Interlachen’s Dillard singled with one out, followed by Harmonie Strauser drawing a walk. Blankenship struck out Destiny Dean for the second out, but a walk to Poole loaded the bases. Mathews hit a ground ball and reached on an error, allowing a run to score. Culpan then hit an RBI single to make it 9-7.
Ridley was at bat with a 3-0 count before Keegan Yowell came in again to relieve Blankenship. Ridley took another ball to force in a run before Taylor Brown hit an 0-1 pitch into left field to score the tying and winning runs.
