ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Six Flagler College softball seniors played their final games in the Saints' regular-season doubleheader finale versus Georgia Southwestern State University at Flagler Field Sunday afternoon.
Although the pair of 5-1 and 7-5 losses wasn't the ending Flagler had hoped for, it didn't take away from the impact
Jamie Greenwood,
NaJah Gerrald,
Zoe Mooney,
Kyra Gipson,
Morgan Murphy and
Sidney Mathis had in their seasons with the Flagler softball program. The Saints end their season behind a 16-20 overall record and 9-11 in conference play.
In the first game, the Saints scored first via a sacrifice but from
Kyleigh Taylor, scoring
Alyssa Velez who singled, but it was the lone run for the home team. The Hurricanes knotted it at 1-all in the third, and then plated two more in each of the next two innings, while pitcher Shannon Gibson (W, 6-10) limited Flagler to one run on seven hits. For the Saints, Gerrald, Velez and
Mercedes Salinas had two hits apiece as
Zoe Mooney had the other.
Kyra Gipson (L, 13-7) wrapped her decorated career in the circle as she scattered 11 hits on five runs in her program-best 52nd complete game. The senior righty is second all-time in wins, games started, and innings pitched while holding a program-tying best 12 shutouts.
In the night cap that was paused because of a lightning delay in the fifth inning and halted longer due to heavy rain, the Saints had a slow start before turning it up a notch ahead of Mother Nature. Down five runs, Taylor scored the team's first run again, but this time she used a single to plate Velez, who drew a walk to reach, in the fourth frame.
After relieving
Madelyn Wise (L, 3-7) in the third inning and allowing a trio of runs in the third, senior
Sidney Mathis settled in as only two more runs crossed. Meanwhile, her offense began to heat up with a third-run fifth inning to get back into it. Back-to-back singles from Gerrald and Munoz set up pinch-hitter
Brandy Barquin as she busted a first-pitch single into the right-field gap to plate Gerrald. From there,
Mackenzie Smith's shallow sacrifice fly plated Munoz, while moving Barquin two bases before Velez singled off the first-base bag to bring Barquin around to complete the three-run inning.
Out of the weather delay, the Hurricanes plated a run in the sixth as did the Saints in the seventh. Behind three-straight singles from Barquin, Murphy and Velez, it set up an RBI-groundout for Greenwood to score
Courtney Robinson, who pinch ran for Barquin, and brought the score within two. Unfortunately, Zoe Willis (W, 7-6) ended the threat in the next at-bat to wrap up seasons for both teams.
Offensively, Murphy, Barquin and Velez paced the Saints with two hits apiece, while Mooney, Taylor, Munoz and Gerrald all had one each. With Murphy's double in the second inning, it moved her to second all-time in doubles, while she also finished second in games played, at-bats, RBI and extra-base hits. She is also third in home runs and total bases, along with fourth in hits to finish her Flagler career.
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