The girls varsity softball team lost 11-3 to Oviedo in the district semifinals on May 2. The team was struggling offensively the whole game. They had a few hits that helped score three runs, but were not consistent enough to keep up with Oviedo’s offense. 

The game started off with Oviedo scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, but Hagerty responded to make the score 3-1 going into the second. Pitcher Reese Twiggs threw a scoreless second inning, along with Oviedo’s pitcher Kennedy Gibson. 

Both teams scored one run in the third inning, but Oviedo continued their lead in the fourth inning, scoring three more, 7-2. Center fielder Ana Roman and right fielder Addison Orr both had multiple hits each with an RBI. 

“We need to tighten up our defense a little and attack pitches that work for us early,” first base/pitcher Rachel Matthiesen said. “We kept our energy up even while we weren’t playing the best and our fight was never gone.” 

Both teams had scoreless fifth and sixth innings, but in the seventh inning, Oviedo added four more runs where Oviedo maxed out their score, adding four more runs. Roman managed to push one run through, but that was all the team could provide. The final score was 11-3, with Oviedo advancing to the district championship against Lake Howell. 

The team has beaten Oviedo two times before the district match up, beating them 12-0 and 4-3. 

“I just think this loss was a bump in the road and it doesn’t define us as a team at all, Oviedo simply outplayed us but they are not the better team,” Matthiesen said. 

The team has a bid for the regional tournament, so their season is still alive. They are scheduled to play in the regional tournament, Thursday, May 11 at 7p.m. at Oakleaf.

“Our team just needs to fix some of the little things before regionals. With the loss of practice time and games over the past two weeks due to weather and school events, we want to get as many reps, both offensively and defensively, as we can,” head coach David Stone said. 

Stone, after 19 years of coaching, 12 as the head coach at Hagerty, announced that this will be his last season with the program.

“We want to make a serious run through regionals, so we know that means championship level practices, we have to go out and represent that ‘H’,” Stone said. “It’s my last run here at Hagerty with a special group of girls. I want to make it memorable.”