Wildcats Steal One From Devils

Dylan Heiring threw six no-hit innings on Friday night, but the Hardee baseball team scored twice in the bottom of the seventh and again in the ninth to steal a 5-4 district victory in nine innings over Avon Park.

The Red Devils led 4-2 heading into the final frame behind a Kyle Jackson three-run home run in the third inning, but the Wildcat bats woke up and Hardee employed small-ball tactics to steal one from AP.

"Dylan was way past his pitch count, so after he gave up his first hit in the seventh, I took him out," said AP coach Mort Jackson. "Then it got crazy."

The Wildcats nearly stole the game in regulation, but the Devils converted a double play on a would-be suicide squeeze to leave the game tied at four.

"They won it in the ninth off a base hit, then they bunted him to second and got him to third," Jackson said. "They played station-to-station and got it in the bottom of the ninth."

The Devils are back in action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, when they host Braden River.

SOFTBALL: Sebring 13, Booker 0 (5 innings)

SEBRING - The Blue Streak softball team scored 13 runs in the first inning and cruised the rest of the way on Friday night to pick up a 13-0 district victory over Booker at SHS.

Niki Helms hit a three-run homer in the first and struck out 13 over five innings of work.

"The Tornadoes had a tough time with their pitching," said Sebring coach Joe Sinness, who noted the Streaks batted through their lineup twice in the first but took the foot off the accelerator in the second inning. "I want to see that kind of intensity every time out."

The Streaks are back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to meet Avon Park. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at APHS.

SOFTBALL: Mulberry 18, Avon Park 5 (5 innings)

MULBERRY - The Red Devils scored four runs in the first inning, but the Panther bats came alive as Mulberry pulled off an 18-5 thumping of Avon Park in a non-district game on Friday night.

Favianette Cotte led the Red Devils with a pair of hits, including an RBI single, but the Panthers were too strong in the later innings.

"They hit the ball well and didn't make a lot of mistakes on defense," said AP coach Wade Jackson. "We hit the ball well in the first inning, it just all went south after that."

The Devils travel to Hardee for a district game at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. They then host Sebring at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.

SOFTBALL: Frostproof 4, Lake Placid 0

FROSTPROOF - The Lake Placid softball team played a powerful Frostproof squad dead even for half of Friday night's game.

But the Bulldogs used timely hitting and took advantage of a couple of Green Dragon errors to come away with a 4-0 win in the Class 3A-District 10 contest.

"We had several good scoring chances, but couldn't get the key hit," said Lake Placid coach Marilyn Jones. "Frostproof is a good team and we hung in there for most of the game."

The loss dropped the Green Dragons to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in district play.

"We had lots of girls reach third base, but we couldn't get them across the plate," said Jones. "This was the best we've played in district and hopefully, we can keep getting better each game we play."