-
Branford catcher Morgan Brennan smiles as she scores the first run of the 1A state semifinals game against defending champion Jay Monday at Legends Ballfield. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)
CLERMONT — Laila Arnold flirted with danger all morning. The Branford ace left at least one Jay runner in scoring position through six innings of the state semifinals.
She left two more there in the seventh, striking out the last batter with an emphatic spike of her glove before running to hug third baseman Madyson Sikes.
The last out was Arnold’s 12th strikeout of the morning, securing a 2-1 win against the defending state champions and taking her team to tomorrow’s 1A state championship, where the Bucs (22-4) will take on Liberty County, which defeated Dixie County 6-2 in the other state semifinal.
“I’m lost for words,” BHS coach Oscar Saavedra said. “They deserve it.”
Arnold was in trouble right from the get-go Monday, walking leadoff hitter Ella Nelson before Nelson stole second. However, a pair of strikeouts got Arnold out of her first jam of the day. It would be the first of seven instances Arnold left a Jay runner at either second or third or both throughout the semifinal.
“You never want to start from behind,” Arnold said of her predicaments. “You never want to let batters on base. It’s just a tough time up there… It’s just a tough time to come back from, but also, when you feel your defense behind you, and you feel them coming up and talking to you and you feel reassured, it just helps you get through the inning.”
On the other side, Royals starter Jenna Toups was dealing from the circle. After the senior ace got out of a bases-loaded situation in the first with a strikeout of first baseman Makayla Williams, Toups cruised through the next four innings, allowing no other hits while walking just one batter. She also managed three strikeouts over that stretch while putting together consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the third, fourth and fifth.
All the while, Arnold kept getting in trouble. And just as reliably, she kept getting herself out of it. With runners on the corners and nobody out in the third, Arnold struck out senior Caitlyn Gavin before getting Carleigh Baker to pop up her bunt attempt to catcher Morgan Brennan. She then struck out Morgan Barrow to end the threat.
Her biggest inning, however, might’ve come in the fifth. Still in a scoreless tie, Arnold walked the first two batters she faced before hitting Gavin with a pitch to load the bases. A popup to shortstop Cloey Criggall was followed by a three-pitch strikeout of Barrow. After a pitch during freshman Kaylee Gilbreath’s at-bat, Nelson, who stretched her lead out at third base, took off for home on the exchange between Brennan and Arnold. However, the Bucs were ready for the play, with Arnold quickly getting the ball back to Brennan as she applied the tag for the third out.
For as much danger she faced all morning, Arnold said she saw the attempted steal coming a mile away.
“We kind of noticed she was leading off farther and farther for each inning,” Arnold said. “My shortstop (Criggall) came up to me, and she was like, ‘Hey, you need to watch this, you need to pick your head up and look, because she’s probably going to do it.’”
Still scoreless through the top of the sixth, the Bucs finally got a rally going. Brennan drew a one-out walk before scampering to second on Toups’ only wild pitch of the game. That’s when Ellie Frierson drove a pitch through the middle infield and into center, chasing home Brennan for the opening score of the game before winding up on third after the throw home skipped away from catcher Bailey Lopez. With Frierson on third, Saavedra decided to go for broke, calling for a squeeze bunt from left fielder Alex Whitfield. It worked, with the ball dying just beyond the plate and Frierson sliding across the plate for the eventual game-winning run. Whitfield said the moment wasn’t too big for her as, again, the Bucs had worked on this scenario as well.
“We work on bunts pretty often,” Whitfield said. “Especially for this place… but I was pretty confident in myself.”
After Arnold loaded the bases again with one out in the seventh, a hard-hit ball by Barrow nearly walked it off for the Royals (16-12). The long fly sent Whitfield to the fence with barely enough room on the warning track to make the catch and limit Jay to the run on Barrow’s sac fly. Arnold’s strikeout of Gilbreath on the next at-bat secured Branford’s first trip to the state title game. That game will be played at 4 p.m. at Legends Ballpark.
“We’re not done,” Saavedra said. “They’re excited. I’m ready for tomorrow.”