ALL HEART

CLERMONT — Nicole Tira has had her heart set on playing for a state title ever since she picked up a softball for the first time 14 years ago.

So when the Braden River senior walked into the National Training Center for the Class 4A state semifinals May 9, she couldn’t help but get caught up in a wave of emotion.

After all, she and her Braden River teammates were in the midst of a historic run — one that had left them a mere seven innings away from turning a childhood dream into a reality.

But in the end, what the Lady Pirates believed should have been their day to celebrate turned into an afternoon of disappointment and thoughts of what could have been. Braden River saw its dream season come to an unexpected close with a 2-1 loss to St. Cloud Harmony.

“I’ve been playing ball 14 years, and a state championship is what any little girl could dream of,” Tira said. “It’s just hard to handle at this point. We worked toward this all season.”

Braden River had its opportunities, but luck wasn’t on the Lady Pirates side. Braden River hit the ball — it just usually ended up in the glove of a Lady Longhorn. The Lady Pirates had eight base runners, but could only scratch across one run.

There have been several times this season, including the Class 4A-Region 3 finals, where one run has been enough. But on this day, one run ended up being one run short. 

“We just worked hard to get here, and we worked hard to score that run,” Tira said.

“These guys never quit,” coach Doug Powell said. “They have more heart than any team I’m ever been around. We had several opportunities early in the game to get some key hits, but we didn’t come through in the clutch.”

Braden River ace Courtney Mirabella was her usual dominant self on the mound, striking out 10 of the first 11 batters she faced. But it was her 12th strikeout that left a sour taste in the mouths of the Braden River players.

With two outs and a runner on second, a called third strike — which would have been the third out of the inning — hit the dirt and skipped past catcher Ashley Allard. Allard retrieved the ball and threw down to Tira at first base. Tira appeared to have the ball in her glove before Harmony’s Brianne Kimura ran into Tira, knocking the ball out of her glove and allowing a run to score.

Powell argued Kimura illegally interfered with the ball and was running out of the baselines, but officials upheld the play.

Harmony added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Mirabella issued her first walk of the game. Brittany Bruns eventually came around to score on a squeeze bunt by Beth Newcott.

Trailing 2-0, Braden River started to rally in the bottom of the seventh inning. Brianna Maxa led off the inning with a double. Two batters later, Alyssa Patneaude hit a single to drive in pinch runner Jada Shopfer. Brooke Ribarich drew a walk and Kenya Yancy hit a single, which was tipped by Harmony pitcher Lauren Harris to keep it from going into center field, to load the bases with two outs.

Allard stepped up to the plate and swung at the first pitch to fly out to right field to end the game.

“It was a good pitch, but I should have waited on it,” Allard said.

Mirabella finished the game with 16 strikeouts and allowed just three hits and a walk. Maxa went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored; Patneaude went 1-for-3 with a RBI and Yancy went 1-for-3 with a walk to lead the way for Braden River at the plate.

Braden River finished with a 23-4 record and its best season in school history. The Lady Pirates advanced to the state semifinals for the first time after defeating Barron Collier 1-0 in an 11-inning battle in the Class 4A-Region 3 finals May 3.

Jessica Cadorette hit a double, and Maxa notched a triple to drive in the lone run of the game. Mirabella finished with a school record 21 strikeouts.

“This has been our goal this entire year,” Maxa said. “We’ve been pushing for this, and every game we won was one more toward states. We made history at this school as a team.”

Braden River will lose six seniors from this year’s Final Four team, including Tira, Maxa, Ribarich, Shopfer, Melissa Malanczuk and Rachel Patneaude, but don’t be surprised if the Lady Pirates look to make another run in the near future.

“They’ll be back,” Tira said. “They’re a good team, and they’re a young team. They’ll learn from this, and they’ve got so much support from the school. Plus they’ll want to avenge losing in the Final Four, so I (wouldn’t be surprised) if they come back and win the whole thing.”

“We will definitely be back,” Powell said. “We have a lot of holes to fill, but we have a lot of really good kids coming up.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].