By FRANCIS FEDOR
Stingray softball commenced district play as a #2 seed, with Newsome claiming the top spot in 7A District 11 competition. Both squads have a first round bye. Sumner’s second round opponent, Plant City, also has a bye. The Stingrays will host the Raiders on April 29 at 7 p.m. and won the only match-up between the teams on April 3. Only one game will be played in the first round and that winner will go on to face Newsome. The Rays split the season series against the Wolves, winning the first game of the season and losing a March game.
Stingray senior Jaelyn Joiner cruises around third in action earlier action this season. Joiner is in the top three in a number of offensive categories and leads the Rays in runs scored this season.
Sumner sophomore Victoria Baker, in action earlier this season, is third on the Stingrays in Earned Run Average and has six of Sumner’s 15 victories
Sumner enters the district playoffs with a 15-10 record and 4-1 against district opponents. The team closed out the season on a winning note with an 8-7 defeat on the road at Wharton on April 23, after losing 10-6 at Wesley Chapel the previous night. The Rays have the momentum of winning six of their last eight games as the regular season wound down.
Sumner traveled to Wesley Chapel to take on the Wildcats. Wesley Chapel took an early 1-0 lead, but the Stingrays took a 2-1 lead in the fourth before the Wildcats used a big six-run sixth inning to reclaim the lead and created the cushion needed to take the win. Riley Wine starred on offense for the Rays, going 2-3 at the dish and drove in four of the six Sumner runs. Victoria Baker tossed five innings, giving up three earned runs, and Aliyanis Stubbs gave up six earned runs and suffered the loss. Sumner traveled the next night to Wharton to take on the Wharton Wildcats. The Stingrays wasted no time in lighting the scoreboard with three first-inning runs. They tacked on another run in the third and three in the fourth. The runs would prove necessary as the Wildcats posted five-runs of their own in the fourth and followed that with two in the fifth to knot the teams at seven apiece. Each team used 10 hits to generate their runs. Stubbs blasted her first HR of the season. Victoria Rudolph drove in three of Sumner’s runs, going 2 for 4 with a double. Jaelyn Joiner was on base three times in four plate appearances and scored each time. Wine and Stubbs evenly split the pitching duties, with Wine getting credit for the win.
The Stingrays will look to elevate their game in the district playoffs, with an eye towards an FHSAA State Playoff berth.
Stingray players, all juniors, Aliyanis Stubbs, Victoria Rudolph and Sa Myra Cameron are key contributors that will be counted on in district playoffs.
Sumner sophomore Riley Wine, the winning pitcher against Wharton last week, during introductions earlier in the season
Head coach Autum Hernandez fields a team that has senior and junior leadership, which gives the team a chance to win each night. The pitching combo of Stubbs, Wine and Baker keeps the Rays in the game and counting on the offense, including Stubbs, who leads all Rays in on-base percentage and batting average, in tandem with Joiner and Rudolph, to name a few to generate the run support needed to win.
For more South Shore action, look for Steve Jackson’s write-up covering the other South Shore HS games.
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