Trinity Catholic and Melbourne Central Catholic were scoreless through three innings in its regional semifinal game on May 13th. With a regional title game appearance on the line, a low-scoring game was expected between the two defensive minded teams.
At the top of the fourth inning, Trinity Catholic’s Dakota Cobb stepped to the plate to change the flow of the game. Her RBI single put the first point on the board and added pressure to Melbourne Central’s bats.
“Its been a long hard road built by kids that came through in the beginning,” Trinity Catholic head softball coach Mike Young said. “Its just another step for this group of kids. I’m so proud of them.”
The following inning, Emma Simms hit a ball into the outfield to push the lead to 2-0. A combination of base running and timely hits helped Trinity Catholic carve out a clutch performance as they continue their historic run in the regional tournament.
Sophomore Caylee Barbe won the battle of standout underclassmen pitchers, throwing 11 strikeouts in the process.
“The defense made some great plays,” Young said. “Lily Ornelas snatching the line drive. We made the routine, routine. We took away their small component. Casey Houghtaling there at the end with the slapper. (Barbe) was fantastic in the circle. Dominant when she had to be and let her defense play behind her.”
Trinity Catholic will play Montverde in the Region 2-2A title game on May 15th. The Eagles are currently MaxPreps’ sixth-ranked team in the country and second in Florida. The Celtics have a long history with Montverde, including a 10-2 loss to the Eagles five weeks ago.
In the playoffs, rankings and results from regular season matchups don’t tell the full story. As Trinity Catholic continues to work towards the elusive complete game, they have the momentum of a four-game winning streak and the most wins in school history to energize them.
“We still haven’t seen the best if these kids,” Young said. “Tough game on Thursday. We’ve competed against Montverde a lot. They’ve always got the best of us. Not sure how they look at as a program or team, but we’re going to go and give them our best.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Caylee Barbe throws 11Ks to push Trinity Catholic softball to historic heights
Reporting by Allen Pettigrew Jr., Ocala Star-Banner / Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
