Winter Haven Senior Softball

Today's matchup on Fri., Feb. 27 was to determine the league champion.  The Braves VS The Marlins with both teams tied at 13 points apiece.  The Braves, managed  by Larry Powell, had won two previous games against the Marlins to put  themselves in position to win the league championship.  The Braves  were the visitors and their lineup was:  Fulton, Turpin, Macko, King, McLellan, Lautenschlager, Ragonese, Ayala, Abney, Bloom, Powell and Morey.  The Marlins were the home team and their lineup was:  Hill, Torres, Grabb, Remington, Simon, Zakrowski, Marino, Kline, Long, Moots, Gibson and  L. Baker.  The Braves bats were cold early on and failed to score in the first four innings of play.  The Marlins jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the first frame keyed by 2B  by Torres and Remington.  They added a run in the second inning and three more in the third inning on 2B by D. Hill and Torres followed by a Grabb HR.  The Marlins did not score in the fourth inning.  After 4 innings the score was 0-7.  The Braves scored twice in the top of the fifth on a McClellan HR.  The Marlins responded with a big 5 run inning  on 2B by D. Hill and Torres  followed by singles from Simon, Zakrowski, Marino, Kline and Long.  In the sixth inning the Braves scored one run on a Powell 2B.  The Marlins in the bottom of the sixth continued their hot hitting and scored five runs on six hits and a Torres HR. and a Simon 2B.  After 6 innings the score was 3-17.  In the seventh frame the Braves scored 3 runs with two outs on a Macko 3B and a 2B from McLellan.   The Braves answered by scoring 3 runs of their own on a Marino 2B to keep a large lead.  The  Braves did not score in the eighth and the Marlins added one run.  The Braves scored three runs in the ninth  inning and the final tally was Braves 9 and Marlins 21.  Kline was the WP.  Leading hitters for the Braves were: Fulton 3-4, King 3-4, McClellan 3-4 HR, 2 2B, Abney 2-3.  Leading hitters for the Marlins were:  D. Hill 4-5 2 2B, Torres 4-5 HR 3 2B, Grabb 2-4 HR SF, Remington 3-5 2B, Simon 3-5  2B, Zakrowski 3-3 BB,  Kline 3-3 BB, Gibson 2-3 BB.
Write up by Jeff Simon