- April 28, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Last year, Seabreeze traveled an hour and a half to Ocala to open its playoff campaign against Ocala Forest, and the Lady Sandcrabs didn’t last a full seven innings. They were rolled 12-1. This season, they have shown that they are different and much better.
“We played them last year in the first round, and we lost, but we’re going to give them a fight this time,” coach Tarisa Craig-Craggy Said.
Seabreeze (14-5) has better team and individual numbers than they had last year, including batting, pitching and defense. Although the Sandcrabs lost the district championship with just two runs, they’re expected to score more runs on a typical day.
While they have gotten better since last year, the Sandcrabs also know that their opponents haven’t changed much from being a dominant team either.
The Ocala Forest Wildcats, ranked 14th in the state, is currently 25-2, and they’ll be looking to breeze (no pun intended) through their first-round matchup, just as they did last season, but Craig-Craggy and Seabreeze have other things in mind.
“We have a great hitting team, but we just couldn’t string the hits together (in the district title game),” Craig-Craggy said. “I hope we bounce back next week, have a good week of practice, and we’ll see what happens.”
The two will meet up in the first round of the regional playoffs Thursday, April 23, in Ocala.
BOX: Lady Crabs fall to Deltona in second straight district title
In a game of strikes and great defense, the Deltona Lady Wolves held off Seabreeze to repeat as district champions with a 3-2 win Friday, April 17, at Matanzas.
“We’ve been runner-up the last few years, so this is history repeating itself,” coach Tarisa Craig-Craggy said.
The Lady Crabs got off to a hot start, scoring in the first inning on a Taylor Lee single that drove Taylor Daller home. Unfortunately for Seabreeze, they wouldn’t add any more runs until the sixth inning.
Deltona tied the game in the third, and then took the lead in the fifth. The Wolves added another in the sixth, but Seabreeze closed the gap, when Megan Daller knocked a ball into right field to bring Brooke Boice home from second base.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Kaitlin Brum got on base with a single, but that was all the Crabs could muster before three outs.
Blum had two hits, as well as Lee, who also had an RBI. Megan Daller had the other RBI. In a losing effort, Marlana Sutton retired five batters, while giving up seven hits.
“We only allowed three runs, but we have to get more than two,” Craig-Craggy added.
