Gainesville Softball Pitches No-Hitter on Senior Night
Gainesville softball capped the regular season in dominant fashion Wednesday night for its seventh consecutive win. The Hurricanes run-ruled Orange Park Ridgeview in six innings, 10-0, while also holding the Panthers hitless.
“Leanna [Bourdage] was outstanding,” Gainesville coach Chris Chronister said. “When she’s pitching like that we have a chance to win any game against any opponent that we play.”
The game marked Bourdage’s fifth no-hitter of her high school career and the first since her freshman season. Bourdage (11-3, .58 ERA) notched 15 strikeouts through the six innings, while driving in two runs.
“Honestly I do not believe I performed well tonight, I feel like I struggled a little bit on the mound, but I’m thankful that my team had my back,” Bourdage said.
The Hurricanes (13-6) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard with Bourdage bringing in leadoff batter Taylor Rogers with a double in the opening frame. Bourdage coupled that with striking out the first six batters she faced.
“We’re exactly where we want to be right now. We’re playing strong, we’re hitting good, pitching and defense has been strong, so I think we are peaking at the right time,” Chronister said.
After the ‘Canes loaded the bases to start the second inning, Adriana Koralewski was the next runner to score, courtesy of a fielder’s choice. Rogers then brought in Brooke Parker with a double. Lana Renicks added two runs with a deep single, before coming home thanks to an error at third base, putting Gainesville up 6-0 against Ridgeview (10-13).
“If we continue to hit the way we did tonight I think that will be the key,” Chronister said.
The scoring continued in the fifth inning, with Koralewski bringing Makenna Young around the bases with a double. Gainesville was then able to close out the game in the sixth inning with three runs, leading to the run-rule being called to end the game.
“It’s always great to win on Senior Night, they came out ready to play,” Chronister said. “It was really a great experience for all of them, but it’s an even bigger win for us from an end-of-the-season standpoint.”
The game was originally scheduled for Monday night before nearby wildfires forced it to be rescheduled. All outdoor activity in Alachua County schools was canceled Monday due to unhealthy air conditions from the wildfire smoke.
“That was shocking to me, Gainesville wildfires, that was something new that I hadn’t experienced before so just being able to reschedule was good on both of the coaches getting us ready for districts,” Bourdage said.
As softball district tournaments start next week, the Hurricanes are looking to ride their momentum back to the regional finals. The team finished the regular season outscoring its last four opponents 38-0.
“We just have to stay focused, one game at a time,” Chronister said. “Obviously, the ultimate goal is to make it back to states and try to put another banner up, but we have a long way to go before we get there.”
Category: Gainesville High School, High School Sports, Softball
