Anybody's race

Perhaps the most competitive and hard to predict age division in this week's Dixie State Championship Tournament at Tom Varn Park is the Ponytails (ages 11-12) All-Stars.
The expected seven-team field consists of highly regarded Belleview, Chipley, Hardee, Port St. Joe, Spring Hill, Wahneta and host Hernando in a double-elimination format.
Hernando, behind its stout mound corps, believes it can contend for the state's top prize.
The same, however, can be said for Spring Hill.
The Westside club rallied from an 0-1 hole in the District 4 event for four consecutive wins behind a mound staff that permitted seven earned runs in 27 innings. All told, Spring Hill issued nine walks compared to 44 strikeouts for a startling 5-to-1 ratio in free passes compared to strikeouts.

Hernando 101

Hernando's Ponytails roster features: Megan Lane, Sierra Cannon, Danielle Harvey, Ta'shylla Brockington, Adriana Goodwin, Jordan Huggins, Courtney Riddle, Isabella Laughinghouse, Taylor Milligan, Whitney Roberts, Tana McDaniel and Chelsea Lowe. HYL Head Coach David Riddle will be aided by assistant coaches John McDaniel and David Goodwin.
What's the reason for HYL's optimism? Look no further than the rubber.
Coach Riddle believes he has four pitchers, Lane, Cannon, McDaniel and Riddle, that have had experience at this (district and state) level.
For one, Courtney Riddle, hurled Hernando Christian Academy to the FHSAA State Final Four in Class 1A this spring.
According to Coach Riddle, his team's strength "is our pitching."
Of course, solid pitching tends to strengthen any team's defense.
"We've made adjustments as we've practiced," explained Coach Riddle. "One thing working for us is we have several people who can play multiple positions. My job is to put the players in the best possible position to succeed."
And hitting-wise?
"We're gonna adapt to whatever is thrown at them," declared Coach Riddle. "We've worked constantly on situational hitting. I don't really care how many hits we get. I'm more concerned with how many runs we get."
"To me, the team that has the ability to have productive outs and plays smart defensively and offensively has the greatest chance of success," he added. "All we've been preaching is execute to the best of your abilities."
Any added pressure as the host team?
"Our kids have to play to their abilities," replied Coach Riddle. "We're not gonna dwell on the other guys. We've got to worry about ourselves."
Biggest concern going in?
"My biggest fear is knowing we haven't played a game that has meant something," matter-of-frankly stated Coach Riddle. "A lot of those questions will be answered after the first pitch. I feel extremely fortunate to be coaching this bunch. Let me tell you we're excited to be playing."

Spring Hill 101

While Hernando took the road less traveled to reached Tom varn, Spring Hill skipper Melissa Varela marveled at her team's tenacity to earn the District 4 title.
Does that district experience give the Westside club an advantage over an HYL team that hasn't played an inning this summer?
"Absolutely, it's an advantage to play," replied Coach Varela. "You see a lot more when you play. You can only practice so much. Plus, there is no substitute for game experience."
Spring Hill's roster features Sarah Brown, Ashley Vera, Brianna Harvey, Brooke Fischbach, Celine Kordon, Peyton Varela, Kama Woodall, Danyelle Singleton, Brooke Majors, Kayla Harvey, Kaeleen Koehler and Courtney David. Coach Varela will be assisted by Rich Woodall and Mark Kordon.
What did Spring Hill lean most about its District 4 experience at Wesley Chapel?
"We learned about putting the ball in play," suggested Coach Varela. "We may not have gotten many hits - the team hit a collective .331 - but we got better at putting the ball into play and making things happen."
Offensively, Kordon paced the Westside club at districts with a 7-for-12 effort for a team-best .583 average followed by Majors (.545), Vera (.500) and Koehler (.417).  
Biggest weakness?
"We had some lapses defensively," pointed out Coach Varela, especially in the first inning of two meetings against West Pasco. "Since districts we've stressed playing fundamental ball. We're not asking about making great plays, just make the routine plays."
Biggest strength?
"That's definitely been our pitching," answered Coach Varela.
Woodall paced Spring Hill with a 2-1 record across 12 innings. She typified the Westside club's mound efforts by issuing two walks while fanning 22 batters for an astounding 11:1 strikeout-to-walks ratio.
Brown added eight strikeouts in eight frames with a 1-0 record while Peyton Varela hurled only five innings, but fanned 10 against three walks.
How crucial is game one, especially after Spring Hill clawed its way out from the loser's bracket last time?
"With seven teams it's crucial to win the first (game)," Coach Varela said. "I realize with more teams I have to do a better job managing our pitchers because we have more innings to cover.
"For us to play on the last day would be great," she added. "But we've stressed to the girls we've got to be focused from the first pitch to the last pitch. We've also got to take care of the ball. If we do that, we're capable of anything. The thing I liked most about this team during districts was everybody here chipped in. It's not about one star, we're all stars."

COMING ATTRACTIONS
WHAT: Dixie Ponytails (ages 11-12) All-Stars State Championship Tournament.
WHO: Seven-team field: Belleview, Chipley, Hardee, Port St. Joe, Spring Hill, Wahneta and host Hernando in a double-elimination format.
WHEN: July 3-7.
WHERE: Tom Varn Park Complex, 306 Darby Lane, Brooksville, FL 34601.
AT STAKE: State champion in each of the five age divisions will represent Team Florida in the July 31 Dixie World Series in Sumter, N.C.

Hernando Ponytails (ages 11-12) All-Stars
NO. NAME POS.
01 Megan Lane P/INF/OF
02 Sierra Cannon P/OF
03 Danielle Harvey INF/OF
04 Ta'shylla Brockington INF/OF
07 Adriana Goodwin INF/OF
09 Jordan Huggins C/INF
10 Courtney Riddle P/INF
11 Isabella Laughinghouse INF/OF
12 Taylor Milligan INF
13 Whitney Roberts INF/OF
17 Tana McDaniel P/INF
21 Chelsea Lowe INF/OF
Head Coach - David Riddle.
Assistant Coaches - John McDaniel, David Goodwin.

Spring Hill Ponytails (ages 11-12) All-Stars
NO. NAME POS.
00 Sarah Brown SS/P                                
04 Ashley Vera  OF                         
05 Brianna Harvey C                        
09 Brooke Fischbach 1B/C                
13 Celine Kordon 3B/P                        
14 Peyton Varela P/1B                      
15 Kama Woodall P/2B                      
18 Danyelle Singleton OF                
25 Brooke Majors 2B/SS                       
26 Kayla Harvey 2B/SS                        
39 Kaeleen Koehler OF                    
78 Courtney David OF/3B 
Head Coach - Melissa Varela.
Assistant Coaches - Rich Woodall, Mark Kordon.

District 4 Ponytails Division (ages 11-12) Recap

06-18:
West Pasco 5, Spring Hill 1

06-19:
Spring Hill 12, Wesley Chapel 5

06-20:
Spring Hill 11, East Pasco 1 (4 Inns.)
Spring Hill 7, West Pasco 1

06-21:
(Championship)
Spring Hill 4, West Pasco 3