Calvary Christian’s softball team doesn’t have a senior in the lineup.
No matter.
The Warriors have a 15-game winning streak, three state championships in four years and another appearance in the Class 2A semifinals.
The latest step came May 14 when the Warriors edged Bishop Verot 5-4 in a regional final at home. Sophomore Morgan Spinner threw all seven innings and scattered four hits. Junior Claire Caoili and junior Ashlynn Loftus each hit a solo home run.
It was Calvary’s fourth straight state final four — and the first without Morgen Talley, who graduated last spring and is now pitching at North Carolina State. Talley left as arguably the best player Pinellas County has ever produced: four state titles (one at Canterbury), 31 career home runs and 699 strikeouts in the circle.
The Warriors have moved on without her. Caoili leads the team with a .461 average, seven home runs and 33 RBIs. Spinner, who hit a home run in last year’s title game, is 18-3 in the circle with a 2.07 ERA and 32 RBIs at the plate. Coach Amy Smith’s roster — juniors, sophomores and freshmen — is 22-4.
Calvary Christian faced Oxbridge Academy (West Palm Beach) May 20 at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood. The winner plays Thursday, May 21, for the program’s fourth state title in five years.
The Warriors won Class 3A titles in 2022 and 2023, finished as 3A runner-up in 2024 and won 2A last year. They have not faced Oxbridge in the postseason.
It’s a young roster on a long streak — and on the brink of another title.
Seminole tops rival Osceola in extras for first state semifinal berth
By CHUCK FRYE, Tampa Bay Beacons Correspondent
Twice this spring, Osceola had broken Seminole’s heart. The second time should have buried the Warhawks for good.
Instead, Seminole rallied past its rival 4-2 in extra innings on May 13 to win the Class 4A Region 3 championship — ending a nine-game losing streak to Osceola and punching the program’s first ticket to the state semifinals.
Sophomore Alexis Compton, 0-for-2 to that point, forced an error that scored the go-ahead run in extras, then singled home Kaydin Whitenton for insurance. Freshman Scarlett Eames retired the side in order to seal it, capping a nine-hit, no-walks-after-the-fourth gem in the circle.
The Warhawks (19-8) face top-seeded Lake City Columbia (27-3), ranked sixth in the state, at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood.
“These kids have surprised everybody this year,” coach Ben Tubbs said, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if they surprise them again.”