The Palatka Panthers spoiled Santa Fe’s senior night with a 5-4 win in Alachua during the regular season, one of only three losses all year for the gray and red.
The Raiders didn’t forget.
On Thursday night at Loretta Shane Field, senior pitcher Makenna Payne tossed a one-hitter in five innings and Santa Fe cruised to a 10-0 mercy-rule win in the FHSAA Class 3A-District 5 championship game.
“It was a wake-up call for them, which was good,” Santa Fe coach Gene Findley said of the regular-season loss to the Panthers. “They got focused and worked hard yesterday at practice, preparing for it, and they came out and executed.”
It was the third straight district title for the Raiders (19-3).
“It feels good,” said Findley. “The team came out tonight and they worked together, and they played. Like I told them before, we’ve just got to play our game and take it one game at a time.”
In the previous meeting, Palatka trailed 3-1 after two innings but scored three runs in the top of the third and held on for the victory.
“That loss hurt,” said sophomore shortstop Maren Hornsby (2-for-3, RBI, 2 runs). “We just wanted to get back at them because they were coming in hot, and we knew we could stop them.”
The Panthers (16-11) entered the game with nine consecutive victories, and they were averaging 11.7 runs per game during the winning streak.
They threatened early, as Payne walked two in the first inning, but she fanned Hannah Faulkner to end the threat.
“In the beginning, I felt like she wasn’t quite warmed up and ready to go,” Findley said. “I think that was some of her nerves, senior, last district game for her. There was a lot going on, but at the end of the day she battled through and got stronger at the end.”
Payne allowed a bloop single by Abigail Huerta just over the head of first baseman Madolyn Jablonski to start the top of the third inning. However, she retired the final 12 batters that she faced working her curve, screw and rise ball.
“Coming into a district championship game, all the jitters, a lot of pressure, but I worked through it and my team had my back, so we had it,” Payne said.
Santa Fe got the only runs it would need in the third inning, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs.
Sophomore Julianna Mott (1-for-2, 2 RBI, 1 run) and junior Madisen Crosby (1-for-2, 2 RBI, 1 run) each had a hit and drove in a pair of runs following a costly error on a dropped ball at second base on a low line drive.
The Raiders added three more runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the third inning.
Everyone in the lineup, 1-9, got on base at least once.
“Offensively, they were on tonight,” Findley said. “Everyone did their job. If they were asked to do something, they did it and they succeeded with it.”
Santa Fe will host a first-round regional playoff game on Wednesday against an opponent to be determined.
Trenton 6, Williston 2 – The top-seeded Tigers defeated No. 2 seed Williston on the road to win the Rural District 7 title.
After the Red Devils (13-10) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, the Tigers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning and added two more in the second for a 4-1 lead.
“Tonight, the message to the girls was keep fighting for each other, turn the page, don’t give up, and don’t quit when we face the adversity because we knew this was going to be a great team that we were going to face tonight,” said first-year Trenton coach Kevin Benson. “Big win, Addison Allaire was great in the circle, comes to the plate to start it out with a big 2-run shot in the first inning…she controlled the game in the circle.”
Allaire threw a complete game and allowed just two runs on six hits with only two walks and nine strikeouts. She also had a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-1 lead.
Senior Charleigh Philmon added a pair of doubles and scored twice.
Matthew Kilgore contributed to the Trenton recap
FHSAA softball district championship results
(Teams in the Mainstreet coverage area in bold)
Thursday, May 1
Class Rural-District 6 at Branford
2 Branford 3, 1 Fort White 1
Class Rural-District 7 at Williston
1 Trenton 6, 2 Williston 2
Class 2A-District 5 at Keystone Heights
1 Newberry 4, 2 Keystone Heights 3
Class 3A-District 2 at Wakulla (Crawfordville)
1 Wakulla (Crawfordville) 3, 2 Suwannee (Live Oak) 1
Class 3A-District 5 at Santa Fe (Alachua)
1 Santa Fe (Alachua) 10, 2 Palatka 0
Class 4A-District 3 at Baker County (Glen St. Mary)
1 Baker County (Glen St. Mary) 6, 2 Columbia (Lake City) 0
Class 5A-District 5 at Deltona
2 Gainesville 2, 1 Deltona 0
Class 6A-District 3 at Oakleaf (Orange Park)
2 Oakleaf (Orange Park) 7, 4 Buchholz 0