VERO BEACH VS. TREASURE COAST

Emily Shepherd’s two-out, two-run home run in extra innings led Vero Beach to a dramatic 2-0 win over Treasure Coast High School in the District 7-9A championship softball game. It is Vero Beach’s (14-9) fifth district softball title in the past six years. “Our plan through the whole game was to keep our composure and make the plays we knew we had to make,” Vero Beach head coach Holly Wood said. “Some of those plays were just heads up ball-playing by my girls and making the right plays at the right time.” The game, played at St. Lucie West Centennial High School, was scoreless through seven innings. Two batters after Skye Collins walked on four pitches to lead off the top of the eighth, Shepherd came to the plate. “We never know the approach with Emily Shepherd,” Wood said with a smile. “She’s done it quite a few times where she gets in clutch situations and she gets a big hit or scores the winning run. We knew they were going to put Skye on base because her bat was hot all game, and with Emily coming up, I told her to keep her composure.” On the first pitch from Treasure Coast starting pitcher Katlyn McCue, Shepherd turned on a fastball over the plate, driving it over the left-field fence. “My approach was to stay relaxed,” Shepherd said. “I saw a nice, down-the-middle strike, and when you hit a home run, you really don’t see it until it goes over; it happens so quick. “When I saw it go over, I was really emotional. I started crying once I hit third and saw everyone cheering.” Despite the home run, McCue was excellent in her outing, allowing six hits while striking out seven through eight innings of work. Unfortunately, the Titans (16-6) couldn’t push across any runs. Treasure Coast had multiple scoring opportunities but failed to convert the key hit. Twice, Titan base-runners were thrown out trying to reach third base. Treasure Coast's best opportunity to score was in the third inning, but Madison Hurley was called out trying to score on a squeeze bunt. Treasure Coast made one last stab at it in the bottom of the eighth, getting back-to-back two-out singles from Kinzie Peyton and Alyssa Wichern, but Vero Beach starter Shayne Hewitt struck out Alexia Whyte to end the game. “We played hard today and played hard all season, but today we just came up on the losing end,” Treasure Coast coach Joe McCue said. “When two good teams get on the field, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. We made a couple of mistakes on the bases and they hit a little better than we did. "(Vero Beach) deserved it, I congratulate them and wish them luck.”

VERO BEACH VS. TREASURE COAST

Photo Credit: Treasure Coast High School Athletics

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