Bartow softball's Johnson, Knowlton lift program to regional finals
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WINTER PARK — It looked as if Bartow softball would cruise to an easy Class 6A regional semifinal win Tuesday at Lake Howell High School.
But some late action led to the ballgame going to extra innings before starting junior pitcher and two-time all-county player Ryleigh Knowlton produced two strikeouts and a popout to end the ballgame at 7-4; Knowlton racked up 12 strikeouts in eight innings. The Bartow faithful erupted in a frenzy as all of Bartow’s team gleefully hugged each other, much like when the team won the state championship two years ago and clinched a berth to state a year ago.
“It feels good having to come in and help out my team on the mound. I’m just really glad we made it this far,” Knowlton said. “…It was great. I love the pressure. I feel like I do a lot better in the pressure (and) it’s probably my favorite thing to do in the game.”
But there wasn’t that much pressure at first. Bartow sophomore second baseman Niamah Johnson slugged a two-run shot in the top of the first to give the Yellow Jackets a quick 2-0 lead. Johnson would go on to hit 4-for-5 with two singles, a double and a home run.
Then, sophomore third baseman Bailey Horsley produced a one-run single in the top of the third to make it 3-0.
Knowlton was cruising until Lake Howell sophomore Jordan Hodosko smacked a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth to make it 3-2. And then senior Rhianna Hudson tomahawked a solo jack to tie the game at 3 in the bottom of the sixth.
Still, Bartow’s pitcher kept it solid, fighting her way through batters and producing outs. This set up a game in extra innings in which each team started out with a woman on second. Things began to unravel for Lake Howell when sophomore first baseman Brooklyn Tyson hit into a fielders’ choice that brought home a run to make it 4-3 in the top of the eighth.
Two batters later, Knowlton hit to third before Lake Howell’s third baseman made an errant throw, which brought in two more runs in the top of the eighth to make it 6-3 Bartow.
Lake Howell finally had a shot in the bottom of the eighth but wasn’t good enough to overcome a four-run deficit, promptly ending the game and allowing Bartow to advance.
“We are just thrilled about advancing. These kind of games, we’ve had a bunch of them this year. We’re just happy to go on to the next one,” 36-year Bartow head softball coach Glenn Rutenbar said.
Other marquee showings were the following: freshman utility player Emma Huffman’s 4-for-4 with four singles, junior infielder Alyssa Hillman produced a double, junior Lexi Hayford and Horsley tallied two singles each.
The next one for No. 3-seeded Bartow (22-7) will be against No.4-seeded Bloomingdale 7 p.m. Thursday.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow softball's Johnson, Knowlton lift program to regional finals
