BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Delia Johnson hit two home runs and drove in seven runs in the Keystone Heights High School softball team’s 20-5, four-inning win over host Buchholz on April 19.
The Indians (11-9) trailed 3-2 after the first, but then scored six runs in each of the next three innings.
Ashley Nugent earned the win, giving up two runs, five hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. She had four strikeouts.
Johnson led off the top of the second with a double and tied the game at 3-3 when she scored on an error. Amber Wagner, with two on and one out, hit an RBI single to put Keystone up 4-3. Nugent and Kadence Massey then hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Indians a three-run lead.
Keystone wasn’t done, though. After Buchholz recorded the second out in the second, Caitlin Frampton and Johnson hit consecutive run-scoring singles.
Riley Shuford led off the top of the third with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wagner. That was the Indians’ second out, but they still managed to push five more runs across. Keystone got four straight singles from Nugent, Massey, Abbie Roach and Nattallie Glinski, with Massey and Glinski each driving in one run. Johnson then hit a three-run homer to make it a 14-3 game.
The Indians had two on with one out in the top of the fourth when Nugent hit an RBI single. After Massey walked, Roach drove in a run on a ground out. Glinski reached on an error, which scored a run. Johnson then stepped to the plate and delivered her second three-run homer, putting the Indians ahead 20-3.
Johnson finished 4 for 4.
Massey, Nugent and Wagner each had two RBI, with Massey going 3 for 3 and Nugent going 3 for 4.
Frampton, Glinski and Roach each had one RBI.
The win capped a 2-1 week that began with a 3-1 loss to host Middleburg on April 16. Middleburg is first in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 5A power rankings.
Keystone, ranked 21st in Class 3A, was held to four hits by Broncos pitcher Morgan Beckham, while Massey pitched a complete game for the Indians, allowing eight hits and one walk, while striking out nine.
The Indians scored first. Alaina Kinsall singled to lead off the top of the first and advanced to second on a Nugent ground out for the second out. Roach reached on an error, which allowed Kinsall to go to third. She scored on a Massey single.
Keystone would load the bases when Frampton walked, but a strikeout ended the inning.
Middleburg answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. Kerra Clarida singled and advanced on a passed ball and a sacrifice bunt. She scored on Alyssa Prather’s sacrifice fly. The Broncos then got a single from Isabell Pifer and a double from Emma Ward, with Ward’s hit scoring a run and putting the Broncos up 2-1.
The score remained unchanged until bottom of the sixth when Madisyn Strickland hit a solo homer.
Massey had two of her team’s four hits in three at-bats.
On April 18, the Indians defeated host Pierson Taylor 4-1.
Keystone built a 2-0 lead on RBI singles from Nugent and Shuford.
After Taylor scored a run in the sixth, the Indians scored two in the seventh. Johnson hit a one-out triple and scored on a Loralei Booth single. Wagner then hit a run-scoring double with two outs.
Nugent finished 2 for 4.
Frampton pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out nine.
The Indians travel to play Baldwin on Tuesday, April 23, at 6 p.m. and will host West Nassau on Wednesday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. Keystone hosts University Christian on Thursday, April 25, at 6 p.m.
Keystone will play in the District 3-3A tournament next week. Matchups, dates and times weren’t finalized by deadline.
