- November 23, 2024
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Now that May is here, the spring sports season — and the 2023-2024 high school season in general — is coming to a close. Our area schools have only track and field left to finish their seasons, the one exception being Cardinal Mooney High beach volleyball, which will wrap up its season at the Florida High School Athletic Association state tournament this weekend.
It was a relatively quiet spring for an area that usually thrives at this time of year; no Sarasota baseball or softball teams reached the regional tournament. But that doesn’t mean there were no performances worth celebrating.
Before everything ends, here’s a look at some area athletes who performed to high standards even if their teams didn’t have the seasons they wanted.
It may seem like old hat because Lowther, a senior, has been doing this for years now — by “this,” I mean racking up points at a prodigious rate — but we as a sports community should not take her accomplishments for granted.
Somehow, Lowther managed to top her breakout performance from 2023. She finished her 2024 campaign with 107 goals and 55 assists, good for a 162-point total. That is the third-most points in the United States, according to MaxPreps, as of May 7.
The Rams finished their season 11-7, ultimately falling 21-11 to Plant High in the regional semifinals on April 30. They will have a lot of talent coming back next season to make another run, but losing Lowther to Clemson University will be a big loss.
As for Lowther, I feel confident that she'll continue her scoring barrage with the Tigers.
Cole, a junior, did not participate in high school softball prior to this season, but quickly made a name for herself on the mound and at the plate. Cole pitched to a 1.40 ERA over 124.2 innings. She struck out 232 batters in that time; her stuff was difficult to even touch. If there’s an area Cole can improve for next season, it is her control. Cole walked 77 batters in 2024. While that’s only 0.62 batters per inning, Cole also allowed just 60 hits all season. Cut down on the free passes, and her ERA could drop below 1.00 in 2025.
Of course, Cole is not just a pitcher. She led all Rams regulars with a .492 average and was second on the team with six doubles, one shy of junior Ella Trandem’s seven.
Cole’s play helped turn around Riverview’s record from 2023. The Rams finished 16-7 but lost 7-3 to Lakewood Ranch High in the district tournament semifinals.
Though SCS finished just 11-12-1 in 2024, freshman baseball player Evan Poznanski set the Blazers offense alight. Poznanski hit .490 with seven doubles, a triple and 21 RBIs, all of which led the team or tied for the lead. His batting average and on-base percentage (.618) were both fifth-best in the entire Sunshine State Athletic Association, according to MaxPreps.
Poznanski also took a page out of Cole’s book and tried his hand at pitching; he held a 2.13 ERA over 13.1 innings. A small sample size, but an encouraging one.
With three years left to play, there’s no limit on how good Poznanski can be.
Rams baseball junior pitcher Morgan Peggs pitched to a 1.45 ERA over 43.1 innings. He struck out 44 hitters over that span and held an on-base percentage against of 0.270. It was a massive step-up from his 2023 season, when he held a 7.00 ERA over 17 innings.
He didn’t have his best stuff in the team’s season-ending loss to Lakewood Ranch High in the district tournament, giving up three runs, but coming into that game, Peggs had allowed just two runs over his previous five appearances. Keep that production up in 2025 and he will be primed for a big season.
Other than Lowther, perhaps no athlete in the area had as eye-popping a statline as Olivia Lockhart, the Cougars freshman softball star. Lockhart hit .721 with 10 home runs, seven triples, five doubles and 52 RBIs in 20 games. Lockhart’s average was fifth-best in the Florida High School Athletic Association, all classes; her slugging percentage (1.525) is fourth-best; and no one had more RBIs. She accomplished that last feat despite having only 70 plate appearances, which is at least 16 less than everyone else in the top-five.
Lockhart also held a .917 fielding percentage at shortstop and stole 21 bases. She didn’t pitch, but she did basically everything else one can do in softball, and she did it all at an incredibly high level.
Thanks in part to Lockhart’s play (and the people who got on base in front of her), the Cougars went 15-5, but lost 9-4 in the district semifinals to Clearwater Central Catholic on April 30.
