MIDDLEBURG - Coaches often talk about playing the best to be better—iron sharpens iron. Three area softball teams got a shot at a handful of the state's best softball teams in Kissimmee and will hopefully come home with a new perspective on the remainder of their seasons and the upcoming playoffs.

District tournaments will start April 27-30 with teams looking to peak just at the right time.

In Kissimmee, at the Kissimmee Klassic softball classic, Keystone Heights, Oakleaf and Middleburg got one of the toughest routes in the two-bracket system.
Oakleaf, in Class 6A and in a bracket with 6A champion Doral Academy at 14-1 and ranked No. 2 in 6A, and IMG Academy, 18th in 2A Melbourne Central Catholic and Matanzas (8-5), got shut out in their first two games—15-0 by Doral and 5-0 by IMG Academy—then regrouped to take Melbourne Central to a 4-3 loss before defeating Matanzas, 15-5. Matanzas knocked Middleburg out of regions last year before losing in region finals to Niceville.

Doral eventually won the Blue Bracket title with a 5-1 win over No. 3 in 6A Bartow in the final with Viera third. In the gold bracket, where Middleburg and Keystone Heights were, No. 4 in 7A-East Ridge (15-2) was champion 7-6 over Dwyer with Melbourne High third.

In the Oakleaf game with Melbourne Central, Oakleaf had their best bats performance outhitting Melbourne Central, 6-5, with three runs in the fifth inning off an error, a single from Alexis Fisher and an RBI double from Janiah Henderson to get the score to 3-2. Two singles and two errors cost the Knights the game, 4-3, in the fifth.

In the 15-5 win over Matanzas, Fisher drove in four runs on three hits with Henderson on the mound with four strikeouts. For Keystone Heights, in the gold bracket and opening with local rival West Nassau, a 0-0 tie in the sixth on tough pitching and defense on both sides was broke with a Cadie Bowles sacrifice fly for the solo run. Kadence Massey pitched with six strikeouts.

Keystone Heights won their second game, a 4-0 win over Lake Wales before pairing up first with gold bracket runner-up Dwyer and then Viera; 10-2 and 4-3 losses.

"We had good chemistry Thursday and Friday," said Keystone Heights coach Jessica Marquart. "We played our best defensive game all year on Friday against Lake Wales. Our offense is still struggling so we need to improve on that."

Dwyer and Oakleaf both played in 6A regions last year with Dwyer losing in quarters and Oakleaf in semifinals to Pace High.

Against Viera, Keystone Heights had a 3-2 lead after four innings off a single by Bailey Amato, a bunt from Lily Asa, an error to 2-2 and a sacrifice bunt from Madallyn Glinski to set up a runoff error on a Bowles line drive.

In the seventh, Viera tagged three singles to tie the game and go into overtime with an RBI double ending the game. Tayler Buchanan, starting at second in the overtime, got to third but Viera struck out two Keystone Heights batters to end the game.

For Middleburg, a 7-0 opener against Bartow was tough enough only to be followed by a 2-0 loss to 7A-Coral Reef, a 7A region semifinalist last year.
Against Coral Reef, the Broncos had three errors: one on a leadoff batter in third with a single and bunt scoring a run, the other run off a homer in the fifth. Middleburg had two baserunners on in the sixth, Madisyn Strickland and Mallory Ficklin, but two strikeouts ended the game.

The Broncos got a 4-0 win over Matanzas before beating Melbourne Central, 6-1, for their second win. Up 3-0 with a run in each of the first three innings, Middleburg rolled to three runs in the fourth off a double to A Morefield, an RBI single by Ficklin and a two-run homer from Strickland, her seventh.

Closer to home, Ridgeview snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over Clay, the second over Clay this season. Clay opened big with Kaelye Rouw tripling in the third getting Clay's lone run.

Ridgeview answered right back with Nichole Deschamps bashing her own triple to score a run with Kasey Watts and Hannah Smith. A double put runs in for a 3-1 lead in the third. Deschamps got an RBI single in the fourth for Ridgeview's final run.

Clay came to Ridgeview after a 10-0 win over Bradford, their third double digit runs game in four outings.

Ridgeview also had a duel with Bolles putting four runs on the board in the seventh for a 9-6 win. Noted in the dugout for Bolles was former Oakleaf High and University of Florida mega batter Katie Kistler, now coaching Bolles outfielders.

Fleming Island, 7-5, with three losses in a row, has a road trip to Orange Park then a home schedule against Oakleaf, Bishop Kenny and Clay.
Orange Park has rattled off a three-game win streak then a two-game losing skid, but the Raiders have yielded some good batting games on top of freshman pitcher Hailey Juarez striking out 40 for the season and holding a 3-3 win-loss slate.

Raider coach Lee Taylor is a wily veteran and can get his team into playoff shape quickly. The Raider schedule to districts is pretty formidable with Fleming Island, Bishop Snyder (13-6), Bolles and St. Augustine upcoming.