Lady Tiger Sharks play for district title tonight
The Port St. Joe Lady Tiger Sharks, who defeated Franklin County Tuesday night in the semifinals, face off in Eastpoint tonight for the District 4 Class 1A title against Liberty County.
Following the 3-1 win over the Lady Seahawks in a seven-inning rain delayed game, Port St. Joe leaped ahead if Wewahitchka in the rankings, putting a damper on the Lady Gators’ chances to advance to regionals. The sixth-seeded Lady Tiger Sharks upset third-seeded Wewa 13-4 in the district opener Monday night.
Port St. Joe will be going up tonight against a formidable Liberty County squad, a team that went 16-6 in the regular season and is currently ranked fifth in the state.
Sophomore Brooklyn Bishop had a dominating night on the mound against the Lady Seahawks, striking out eight and walking six while giving up just two hits over seven innings.
Franklin County junior Sarah Ham gave up three earned runs on seven hits, striking out nine while walking four.
After Ham struck out two in the opening inning, Bishop got to work in the bottom of the inning, as Ham, the leadoff hitter, beat out a hard grounder to shortstop and then stole second. Seventh grader Shasta Butler then beat out a bunt hive the Lady Seahawks an excellent scoring opportunity.
With the only mistake a passed ball that advanced both runners. Bishop struck out three batters in a row, and the game remained scoreless.
Ham and Bishop each faced four batters in the second but there were no runs crossing the plate.
Port St. Joe, under the coaching of Tanner Jones and Halie Jasinski, got three runs in the top of the third.
Following a strikeout by junior Bri Fleming, sophomore Trinity Fleming singled up the middle, and then stole second. Junior Addy Silcox’s short pop fly to left center dropped in as an error, and both she and Farmer were safe on the corners.
Farmer stole second, and then senior Addy Creekmore walked, loading the bases.
A fly ball to short left center off Bishop’s bat scored two runs. On the next play, sophomore Elli Newman’s fly to short right hit the ground safely, and Creekmore was able to beat the throw to the plate, for the third run. Sophomore Christina Clayton ended the inning with a ground out to Seahawks shortstop seventh grader Shasta Butler.
The Lady Seahawks got on the board in the bottom of the inning, as junior Micahlayn O’Neal hit a sacrifice fly that brought home Butler.
Port St. Joe loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but Ham made sure they were all left on base when she struck out Port St. Joe freshman Anniston Gainer.
A steady light rain delayed play in the fourth and five innings, but once it quit and the game resumed, there was no further scoring.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.