North softball team wins regional opener, Mariner falls; Verot baseball team reaches state final four
Prep Report 5-9-25
Thursday
SOFTBALL
Region 5A-3
First round
North Fort Myers 7, Gaither 6: The top-seeded Red Knights (18-7), stunned by a four-run Gaither (10-11) first inning, needed a three-run rally in the seventh to walk off with a win and a region semifinal berth. Mia Lane had a monster game at the plate, driving in six runs with a home run and a double for North. Three of the six runs against Red Knights pitcher Kaliyah Williams were unearned. Williams had a run-scoring double.
Charlotte 10, Mariner 6: A potential rematch with rival North Fort Myers disappeared as the Tritons’ season ended at 17-7. It was Charlotte (13-14) advancing to face the Red Knights. Calleigh Buzard led the Mariner offense with three RBI and two runs scored. Kaylen Rounding had an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored. Tritons pitcher Gabi Winters allowed three earned runs (out of 10 scored) with 11 strikeouts.
Fort Myers 11, Riverdale 6
Northeast 5, Gulf Coast 0
Semifinals
Tuesday
Charlotte at North Fort Myers
Northeast at Fort Myers
Championship
Thursday, May 15
At higher seed
Region 2A-3
Semifinals
Tuesday
Tampa Catholic at Calvary Christian
Berkeley Prep at Bishop Verot
Championship
Thursday, May 15
At higher seed
BASEBALL
Region 3A-3
Championship series
Best-of-3
Game 3
Bishop Verot 7, Calvary Christian 6 (8 innings): The Vikings are state-bound after a walk-off Game 3 win in Clearwater. Bishop Verot (32-2) saw a 6-1 lead evaporate when Calvary Christian (29-5) put a 5 on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the end, however, the Vikings won their 13th consecutive road game. The FHSAA Class 2A Final Four will be played at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers May 19-20. The FHSAA will seed the four remaining teams to determine state semifinal pairings.
Other regions: The new best-of-3 format, intended to get the top teams to the Final Four, did not work as expected in Region 2A-2. Seventh-seeded Hernando was the region champion after defeating fifth seed Umatilla in the finals. Region 2A-1 top seeded South Walton beat third seed Suwannee, while 2A-4 favorite Miami Springs ousted sixth seed St. Brendan in that region final.