Ellie Hansen and Alyssia Paiz each drove in three runs and Paiz hit a home run Thursday night to lead the Lady Pirates to a 9-1 victory over Palatka in the first round of the St. Johns River Athletic Conference tournament.
The two players led a 10-hit attack that smothered the Panthers and bolstered a combined six-hitter for starter Madison Bodin and reliever Lovie Haley, who worked two scoreless innings for a save. Bodin worked five innings, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter, giving up Palatka’s only run in the third inning.
The big inning came in the fifth when Hansen doubled home two runs and Alexia Moy singled in a three-run inning. Matanzas added three more in the fifth when Paiz cracked her homer off Palatka starter Brittany Funk.
Hansen doubled twice in three at bats and also drew a walk while scoring two runs. Haley, Paiz and Jessica Rodrigues all went 2-for-4 in the game and Savannah Evans singled and scored a run in four at bats.
Fleming Island 3, Matanzas 2: The Golden Eagles scored twice in the first and carried a shutout into the sixth when Matanzas final broke through for its two runs Friday in a St. Johns River Conference tournament game.
Lovie Haley drove in both Matanzas runs when she singled with Jessica Rodrigues and Cassandra Veilleux aboard after Fleming Island had taken a 3-0 lead. Rodrigues had two singles for the only multi-hit game and the Lady Pirates had eight hits, all singles.
Madison Bodin pitched five innings and gave up eight hits with one strike out. Fleming Island starter Sammy Dill worked a complete game and also drove in a pair of runs with a triple in the bottom of the first inning.
NSB 12, FPC 0: Hailey Moody had the only hit for the Lady Bulldogs Friday night in a five-inning game at Bulldog Field. FPC stranded all four of its base runners and batters struck out 11 times in the contest. New Smyrna Beach had nine hits and seven walks and scored in every inning, including a six-run rally in the top of the fifth.
— Andy Mikula