Five area teams take home softball district titles

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Nine teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area played for district softball championships on Thursday night and five were victorious.

Fort White 7, Branford 0

In District 6-1A, second-seed Fort White (10-9) stunned top-seed Branford 7-0 for the district title.

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Indians junior Gracie Clemons drove in three runs while sophomore pitcher Kadence Compton tossed a three-hitter. It marked the second straight year Fort White defeated the Buccaneers for the district championship.

Fort White finished as state runners-up in Class 1A a year ago and will host a first-round regional semifinal game next Thursday.

Dixie County 4, Trenton 3 (9)

In District 7-1A, top-seed Dixie County (Cross City) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie host Trenton (16-8) and then scored in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 win.

In the loss for Trenton, eighth-grader Addison Allaire struck out 15 Bears batters in eight innings.

Dixie County (19-5), a final four team in 2022, will also host a first-round game on Thursday.

Williston 11, Hawthorne 1 (5)

Williston rolled to the 1A-8 title by pounding Hawthorne 11-1 in five innings. Nevaeh Hayes, Raegen Geiger, and Maci Vonderstrasse drove in two runs apiece for the Red Devils (25-2), who are the No. 1-ranked team in Class1A according to MaxPreps.

Hayes tossed a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in five innings for Williston, who outscored their two opponents in the district tournament by a combined 35-2.

Keystone Heights 10, Taylor 0 (5)

Keystone Heights took home the District 3A-3 title as a No. 3 seed, knocking off top-seed Taylor (Pierson), 10-0, in five innings in the championship game. The Indians who struggled to a 6-17 record in the regular season, won three games for the district title, beating second-seed Palatka and Taylor.

Freshman pitcher Kadence Massey-Hoadley tossed a one-hitter and another freshman, Amberlea Wagner, drove in four runs as Keystone Heights pounded out 14 hits.

Sante Fe 5, Trinity Catholic 4

Santa Fe (Alachua) walked off in the bottom of the 7th for a 5-4 win over host Trinity Catholic (Ocala) to capture the District 5-3A championship. The Raiders led 4-1 before Trinity Catholic tied the game with three runs in the sixth inning.

Ridgeview 2, Columbia 0

The only area team to fall in Thursday night’s championship games was Columbia (Lake City).

Freshman Siage Bialek held the Tigers to four hits as Ridgeview (Orange Park) blanked Columbia 2-0 for the 5A-2 championship.

Despite the loss the Tigers (16-7) should be in good shape for the regional playoffs, as they are currently ranked sixth in Region 1-5A.

The first-round matchups will be announced by the FHSAA this weekend.

FHSAA SOFTBALL DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS –  THURSDAY, MAY 4

Class 1A-District 6 at Branford
2 Fort White
7, 1 Branford 0 

Class 1A-District 7 at Trenton
1 Dixie County (Cross City) 4, 2 Trenton 3 (9)

Class 1A-District 8 at Williston
1 Williston 11, 3 Hawthorne 1 (5)

Class 3A-District 3 at Keystone Heights
3 Keystone Heights 10, 1 Taylor (Pierson) 0 (5)

Class 3A-District 5 at Trinity Catholic (Ocala)
1 Santa Fe (Alachua) 5, 2 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 4

Class 5A-District 2 at Middleburg
1 Ridgeview (Orange Park) 2, 2 Columbia (Lake City) 0

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