Before we even get to the game, a HUGE shout-out to whoever wrote out today's scoresheet and lineups. For possibly the first time in Lakeland Senior Softball history, EVERY SINGLE NAME WAS LEGIBLE! No squinting. No guessing. No trying to decipher hieroglyphics.
Whoever you are — please bring that same penmanship next game!
Now to the game...
With the Florida temperature already pushing 90+ degrees before the first pitch, you might have expected everyone to take it easy.
Apparently, the bats didn't get that memo.
Team Adkins (Visitors) 21
Team Regis (Home) 20
Team Regis (Home) 20
Team Adkins came out swinging, with four of their first five batters crossing the plate in the top of the first.
Team Regis responded with, Oh yeah? Watch this.
Their first five batters scored, giving the home team an immediate answer.
And nobody cooled off in the second. Five runs for Adkins. Five runs for Regis.
At that point, it looked like whoever had the last at-bat might win 47–46.
Then, suddenly, somebody remembered defense was part of the game. Both teams were held to just one run in the third.
Adkins heated back up in the fourth, pushing across three runs — with a little help, confusion, or controversy courtesy of an infield fly/not-an-infield-fly situation. Depends on who you ask.
Regis managed just one in the bottom half, and heading into the fifth, Adkins held a slim 13–12 lead.
Adkins added two more, but Regis answered with a five-run inning, flipping the game and taking a 17–15 lead.
Then came the open inning.
And Adkins wasn't ready to put the bats away.
With the Regis defense letting its guard down just enough, Adkins exploded for six runs, turning a two-run deficit into a 21–17 lead.
Regis still had one last chance.
Lynch started things with a base hit. Then Fred drove one into right-center, bringing Lynch around and eventually scoring himself.
Suddenly it was 21–20, and what had looked like a comfortable Adkins lead was anything but comfortable.
Was a comeback brewing?
Not today.
Just when Regis had the momentum, the Adkins defense slammed the door with a double play, stopping the rally in its tracks. One more batter, one more out, and that was it.
Final: Team Adkins 21, Team Regis 20.
Hot weather. Hotter bats. Twenty-one runs versus twenty. A little controversy. A late comeback attempt. A clutch double play.
And perhaps the biggest miracle of all…
We could actually read every name on the scoresheet.