Continued rain throughout the Florida Gulf Coast pushed Opening Day for the Florida Gulf Coast League back to Friday.
The wait for the highly-anticipated second season of the first collegiate summer softball league was worth it, however.
Five make-up games in the morning and Friday’s regularly scheduled games across the Miss Sarasota Softball Complex didn’t disappoint.
An extended Opening Ceremony that included all players from the 10FGCL franchises split the day in half.
Florida Tech’s Jolie Miracle, a Tampa Bay area native and a member of the Siesta Key Phinz, performed the National Anthem on a trumpet, which made for a memorable experience, while Oklahoma National Champion and Phinz pitching coach Shannon Saile threw out the ceremonial first pitch to officially ring the second season of the league in.
Check out what you may have missed from Friday’s games.
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MORNING SESSION
The Siesta Key Phinz earned its first win in program history on Friday afternoon in a game originally scheduled for Thursday over the defending runners-up Manatee Squeeze.
Big 10 Freshman of the Year Jaeda McFarland of Maryland impressed with a 3-for-4 day in the 7-4 victory, starting a long fifth inning rally with her legs. After reaching on a bunt single, the rising sophomore stole second, then came all the way around to score after the throw down was tossed into center.
Newly minted Sacramento State utility Lexie Webb knocked in Oregon’s Kailee Luschar on an RBi single, then FIT’s Jolie Miracle hit a two-run single to left to help the Phinz to a five-spot in the home fifth.
Quinnipiac’s Kat Rodriguez had a solid FGCL debut with a 2-for-4 day that included an RBI triple down the right field line to tie the game at 1-1 after an inning.
For Manatee, Michigan pitcher Lauren Esman got the start and worked around six hits before giving way to Kenley Hawk, who only threw to five batters before a Rodriguez line drive hit Hawk in the head and forced her to exit under her own power.
Oklahoma’s Rylie Boone smacked a leadoff home run to get Manatee going, but the Squeeze left nine runners on base and couldn’t muster a hit past the fifth against Webb and Georgia Tech’s Blake Neleman, who picked up a save and the win, respectively.
Liberty’s Devyn Howard was 2-for-3 for Manatee, while Oklahoma State’s Scotland David had a two-run double to center in the fourth.
The win was the first for Phinz head coach Aaron Vail, the assistant from Furman tasked to lead Siesta Key in its first season of existence.
In the other games, the Sarasota Circus won a wild one over the SUA Pioneers, 10-9. South Alabama outfielder Victoria Ortiz homered for the Pioneers, while Furman’s Natalie Morgan had a homer and drove in four for Sarasota.
Another expansion team, the South Bradenton Skeeters, notched its first win, 5-3 over the Bradenton Lynx. Florida State’s Devyn Flaherty scored on an error in right field, then MeKayla Frazier (formerly of Elon), scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2.
The Skeeters struck for three in the bottom half with a pair coming on a homer from Reggie Kanagawa of BYU, then newly minted Michigan State Spartan Kayleigh Roper hit an RBI single for insurance.
Lefty pitcher Jordan Dail of Oregon worked around 12 hits and struck out five to lead the Bradenton Slice to a 5-2 victory over Impact.
Murray State’s Adi Reese homered as a part of a five-run sixth to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. But in the losing effort, Appalachian State’s Kayt Houston had quite the day, going 4-for-4 with a double and a home run for the Impact.
Myakka City (which we’ll touch on later) got multi-hit games from Ari Quinones (formerly of Washington), Grayson Radcliffe of Indiana, and Villanova’s Paige Rauch to take down the Anna Maria Aquanauts, 9-3 to round out the make-up action.
NIGHT SESSION
Defending champions Myakka City flexed its muscles for the second straight game with a 10-1 win over SUA Pioneers in the nightcap.
After hanging 9 over the Aquanauts, the River Mocs matched that in the second inning with a seven-spot in the second sparked by a long two-out rally.
Former Illinois State two-way star Mack Leonard hit a towering two-run home run before LSU outfielder Anna Jones answered that with a three-run shot of her own.
2021 Big East Player and Pitcher of the Year Paige Rauch hit a two-run double to get the River Mocs going in the first and worked three scoreless innings in the circle, striking out four. Ole Miss’ Katelin Cooper drove in the Pioneers’ lone run in the fifth on a solo home run to right.
San Diego State’s Danielle Romanello returned home to the Tampa Bay area and paced South Bradenton to a run-rule win over Siesta Key its night cap with a grand slam in the third and an RBI groundout in the first. Roper stayed hot with a two-run homer of her own, the first of the summer for the former Georgia Tech infielder.
A seven-spot in the third helped the Skeeters improve to 2-0 – just one of three teams to be undefeated in the early action. The other new team to the party, the Circus, battled with the Bradenton Slice for seven innings before Georgia’s Ellie Armistead, fresh off a Women’s College World Series run, walked it off with a three-run homer.
Washington’s Sarah Willis and Presbyterian’s Jenna Green combined for a shutout, working around six Slice hits and five walks to keep it scoreless. Maddie McPherson of NC State worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings before allowing Armistead’s walkoff shot.
The Bradenton Lynx used a five-run sixth to rally against Anna Maria, 6-4. Texas A&M’s Haley Lee hit a three-run homer after Flaherty and Frazier hit back-to-back singles to lead off the frame, then former Western Kentucky Hilltopper Maggie Trgo doubled to score Nyah Morgan. Trgo would score on a sacrifice fly to finish the inning and power the Lynx to the win column.
Manatee Squeeze did the same, using an 11-0 run-rule victory get them back to .500 in the early going. A duo of players that faced off in the Championship Series of the WCWS – Oklahoma’s Rylie Boone and Florida State’s Carson Saabye combined to go 5-for-6 with 4 RBI and five runs scored.
Saabye and Louisiana’s Melissa Mayeux homered for the Squeeze – Mayeux and Molly Rainey both had two-hit games in the victory.
Action continues Saturday at the Miss Sarasota Softball Complex with the undefeated Circus and Skeeters squaring off at 10 a.m. in one of the main marquee matchups of Saturday’s action.
— Will Turner, Extra Inning Softball Correspondent
