The special year for Newberry athletics continues.

Last Thursday, the Newberry softball team defeated Keystone Heights, 4-3 in eight innings, to win the FHSAA Class 2A-District 5 title.

It was the program’s first district championship in 26 years.

“This win is certainly meaningful to our team for having worked very hard to earn the opportunity to even compete for a district championship, but I do hope it means a lot to our school and community as a whole,” said Michele Roundtree, who has been coaching NHS softball for the past couple of years but is in her first full season as head coach.

It was the school’s first district championship game appearance since 2000 and the first district title since 1999 when Michele Honeycutt, who currently works in Newberry’s guidance office, was the pitcher in those years.

“She was very good and likely the reason they were in the district finals,” Roundtree said.

The foundation started a couple of years ago when the Panthers finished 15-9 in 2023 and earned an FHSAA regional bid.

Last year Newberry, which lost to Chiefland, 4-1, in the Class 1A-District 7 Semifinals, finished 17-6 and earned a second straight postseason bid.

The Panthers moved up to Class 2A and parlayed a postseason regional appearance in 2024 into a 20-win season in 2025.

“Though it is my first official season as head coach, I have helped coach these girls since ’23 with Coach (Ed) Johnson,” said Roundtree, who took over partway through last season as head coach. “So, the foundational blocks of this program have been in place since then. My girls have been involved in coaching camps, doing lessons, and playing travel ball in the off season to not only help encourage our local youth talent, but also improve themselves as individual players.”

Additionally, this season, she was able to build a full coaching staff with Jessica Ross, Jose Rivera, James Albright, and Andy Parker who are all knowledgeable coaches with lots of softball coaching experience.

The Panthers (20-5), who won their first 11 games of this season, returned eight starters in 2025, including two freshmen with promising futures and 3 transfers from Santa Fe (Alachua).

“Some of the young ladies I coached in ’23 and ’24 (Paige Bankston, Danielle Olivera, and Hollie Pabst) were athletes that could’ve transferred elsewhere,” Roundtree said. “Instead, they stayed in their hometown and helped me create a mentality and set expectations for this program. We are starting to see the fruits of that labor and I plan to continue to bring in good people and build up our local youth softball in order to keep our program a positive and competitive place for girls softball.”

They won the district title in dramatic fashion, getting a walk-off win against the Indians (9-16) in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Per FHSAA rules, if the game is tied at the end of regulation innings played, the tiebreaker is in effect. This is where each team begins the inning with a runner at second base.

“At the top of the 8th we were able to hold them from scoring in large part due to some well called and placed pitches by our pitching staff and an amazing diving catch by our sophomore catcher Chloe Jones,” Roundtree said. “You could see the drag marks in the dirt of her two cleats from where she left her feet to lay out for the ball. She caught it in foul territory as she hit the fence full force.”

Newberry put freshman Abbie Parker at second base in the bottom of the 8th as a courtesy runner for junior pitcher Sarah Burns.

Senior Gracie Mattson bunted a perfect sacrifice bunt and was thrown out. However, Parker was supposed to advance to third but did not.

Senior Malana Kennard walked, and freshman Tristan Layfield had an infield hit to load the bases.

That sent sophomore Chloe Jones up to the plate with only one out.

“I was very confident in her abilities to push the winning run across, but the way it happened was not what I expected,” Roundtree said.

Earlier in the game Jones hit a high fly ball well over the left field fence just beyond fair territory.

“I told her, in the moment of intense pressure, ‘we don’t need a home run, just a good swing on a good pitch’,” Roundtree said. “She was patient and worked the count to two balls and two strikes I believe, having fouled off a few rise balls. Then she was hit by a pitch and the winning run scored. Ball game.”

That earned the Panthers a home playoff game at 7 p.m. this Wednesday in the FHSAA Class 2A-Region 2 Quarterfinals against Cornerstone Charter Academy (Belle Isle).

Newberry is batting .332 team, with Mattson leading the team in almost every offensive category.

Mattson leads the team with a .519 batting average, a .630 on base percentage, an .844 slugging percentage, and she is also first in hits (40), runs (38), and triples (8).

“Gracie is a coach’s dream,” Roundtree said. “She embodies everything you want in a player and leader. Everything she does, whether the task is small like shagging balls or large like pitching and playing 3rd in the same game, she does it with a great attitude and great effort. Her work ethic and positive approach shows in her play and in her stats. The person Gracie Mattson is only matches the amazing player she is, which makes me the luckiest coach in the state.”

She is also 3-0 with a 0.40 earned run average in 17.2 innings pitched.

Kennard is second with a .424 batting average, a .495 OBP, and 32 runs scored. She leads the team with 33 stolen bases.

Layfield is third on the team with a .422 average and 23 runs scored. She leads the team in RBI (23) and is second with 38 hits. The freshman is also third with a .556 slugging percentage.

Sophomore Madison Rodgers (11-2, 1.81 ERA) and junior Sarah Burns (6-3, 2.72 ERA) lead the Panthers in the circle.

The visiting Ducks (18-9) are batting .327 as a team and are led by sophomore Emma Pynes (.444, 36 H, 14 DBL, 8 HRs, 34 RS, 35 RBI) and freshman Liany Rosario (.405, 10 DBL, 24 RBI).

“We know they are a strong offensive team, and we will have to play solid defense like we did in the district championship,” Roundtree said. “I’m very confident in Burns and Rodgers, to be able to manage the game from the circle. That said, I think we match up well with them.”

Roundtree said it’s more about Newberry than their opponent.

“I would like my girls to focus more on what they can control and just play for one another,” she said. “We did not reach this point in the season by worrying about what strengths our opponent has, rather focusing on our game and what we can do together.”

Newberry was one of five area teams to win a district title, joining Branford (Rural-District 6), Trenton (Rural-District 7), Santa Fe (3A-District 5), and Gainesville (5A-District 5).

FHSAA Softball state playoffs
(teams in the Mainstreet coverage area in bold)

All games at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise

Wednesday, May 7

Class 2A-Region 2 Quarterfinals
4 Cornerstone Charter Academy (Belle Isle) at 5 Newberry
7 Keystone Heights at 2 Trinity Catholic (Ocala)

Class 3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
6 Suwannee (Live Oak) at 3 West Nassau (Callahan)

Class 3A-Region 2 Quarterfinals
7 The Villages at 2 Santa Fe (Alachua)

Class 4A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
3 Columbia (Lake City) at 6 Escambia (Pensacola), 7:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, May 8

Class Rural-Region 3 Semifinals
4 Union County (Lake Butler) at 1 Madison County
3 Fort White at 2 Branford

Class Rural-Region 4 Semifinals
4 Moore Haven at 1 Trenton
3 Fort Meade at 2 Williston

Class 5A-Region 2 Quarterfinals
6 Belleview at 3 Gainesville