Twice As Nice: Parrish softball rallies to beat Gainesville to repeat as Class 5A state champs

The celebration befitted a team winning its second straight state championship.

And it was fitting that a Parrish High player from last year’s title team helped bring home No. 2. Ella Romano’s one-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Carsyn Kull from second base to give the Bulls a 3-2 extra-inning victory on Friday over Gainesville in the Class 5A state title game at Legends Way Ballfields in Clermont.

Thus, Parrish becomes the first school since Class 1A Trenton in 2019 and 2021 ― Covid-19 wiped out the 2020 tournament ― to win back-to-back state softball titles. But unlike last year’s 5-0 win over Deltona for the crown, the game against the Hurricanes contained high drama.

Down 2-0 to a team that won the 2016 Class 7A title, but one which finished last season 6-14, Parrish tied it with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Bulls (20-8) had just four hits in the game off Gainesville (24-5) freshman starter Leanna Bourdage, but three in the sixth evened the game at 2-all.

With one out, Krull walked, Bourdage’s fifth free pass of the game. Alysa Jones then followed with the Bulls’ first hit, putting Parrish runners on first and second. Romano’s single plated Krull, cutting Gainesville’s lead to 2-1. Following a strikeout by Alex Call, Hannah Lewis tied the game with an RBI double. Bourdage escaped further damage by striking out pitcher Rylee Little.

Neither team scored in the seventh, though Parrish had a great chance to win it in regulation. With Mackenzie Pandelo on third and one out, Kyndal France laid down a bunt. But she didn’t get it far enough in front of home plate, and Gainesville catcher Braylin Cook picked it up and tagged out Pandelo attempting to score.

Starting the eighth inning, each team would begin the frame with a runner on second. In the top of the eighth, the Hurricanes advanced that runner to third with one out. But Little, who struck out only five in the game, got the most important two, fanning Bourdage and Cook with the runner on third.

Given its chance with a runner on second base to start the bottom of the eighth, the Bulls quickly ended it. The runner, Kull, moved to third on a bunt by Jones. Then, Romano hit perhaps the hardest ball of the game, a shot to right-center that found the fence. Kull easily scored from third, setting off a celebration by a team/program only five years in existence, but already with two state titles.

In Gainesville, the Bulls’ opponent wasn’t a pushover. The Hurricanes shut out 10 opponents this season, averaged eight runs a game, hit 25 home runs, drove in 193 runs, and had a .330 team batting average. Bourdage came into Friday’s game with an 18-3 record, 0.52 ERA, and 230 strikeouts in 121.2 innings.

But even those gaudy numbers weren’t sufficient to stop Parrish’s Bull run from its second-consecutive state title.

Title No. 1:Mission accomplished for Parrish Community High softball team