Softball teams battle at districts this week
It’s time for the second varsity softball season, as both Franklin and Gulf counties will have a chance to advance to state play beginning with the district tourney opening Monday in Liberty County.
Both top seed, Liberty County (17-3), and second seed Franklin County (16-6) drew a bye in the April 28 opener. Third-seeded Port St. Joe (15-4) squares off against sixth-seed Wewahitchka (6-17), while fourth-seed Altha (12-8) plays against fifth-seed Blountstown (9-13).
The winner of the Altha-Blountowns game will face Liberty County Tuesday, while the winner of the Port St. Joe- Wewa game will face Franklin County. The championship is Thursday, May 1.
The Lady Seahawks come into the post-season with a head of steam, having won six of their last eight games.
On April 8, the Lady Seahawks fell at home 1-0 to the Lady Bulldogs, managing just three hits, a pair of singles by senior Michalyn O’Neal and a hit by sophomore Peyton Jones.
Senior pitcher Sarah Ham struck out two, walked two and gave up eight hits.
The Lady Seahawks then peeled off six straight wins, defeating Suwannee 9-1 at home April 9; winning an away game the following night 6-1 at St. John Paul II; winning 8-4 at Blountstown April 14; downing Chiles in Tallahassee 6-5 the following night; winning 6-3 over Blountstown at home April 21; and closing out the regular season at home the following night with a 4-2 loss to Wakulla.
The Port St. Joe Lady Tiger Sharks head into the post-season also with the win at their backs, having swept their last five games.
On April 3 at Sneads, they won 17-0, and then on April 8 at home, edged Cottondale 2-1 on a pitchers duel that limited both teams to three hits each. On April 10 at home, the Lady Tiger Sharks handed Liberty County a 5-4 defeat, one of just three losses on the year for the Lady Bulldogs.
Junior Christina Clayton went the distance striking out for and giving up four earned runs on nine hits.
On April 15 at Florida A & M DRS, Port St. Joe won a decisive 27-3 victory, and then closed out their season at Vernon April 18, with a 7-2 win.
The team posted their best regular-season record since 2018 (15-8) and delivered an overall on-base percentage of .472.
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.