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PCAC championship: Osceola 5, Countryside 3

 
Published April 8, 2016

SEMINOLE — Last season, Osceola arrived on the Pinellas County softball scene after becoming the first south county team to win the conference title in 15 years.

That championship led to bigger things with the Warriors continuing their remarkable run by winning a district title to make the playoffs for the third time in five seasons.

With the bulk of the roster returning, Osceola seemed like a good bet to get back to the Pinellas County Athletic Conference championship. It wasn't pretty at times, but the Warriors made a return appearance.

They also defended their title, beating Countryside 5-3. It was a win Osceola hopes will give its postseason a boost like it did a year ago.

"We definitely needed this momentum going into (the district tournament)," Warriors coach Jerry King said. "Last year, we made history. Now to go back-to-back is something special."

Down 1-0, Osceola tied the score in the third inning when Maria Kappos hit a homer, marking the 100th hit of her career.

In the fifth inning, the Warriors broke the game open by scoring four runs, the big hit coming on a three-run blast by freshman Abby Sulte, the first home run of her high school career.

"The pitch was right down the middle," Sulte said. "I just went up there wanting to hit the ball. It's all kind of shocking to me. It hasn't really came to me yet what I did, but I'm sure it will."

The Cougars' Makenzie Griffin hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to cut it to 5-3 but Countryside could not get any closer.

Osceola pitcher Sarah Huskey kept Countryside off balance by using a variety of pitches instead of relying more on her changeup.

"I saw coach (Kaylyn) Bayly at the last game scouting us and I knew she was going to expect changeups out of Sarah," King said. "I didn't call that many because I knew that was what Countryside probably practiced for this week. We went more screwball, riseball. Going in and out and just mix in the changeup every once in a while.

"It all worked out."