The Saint Stephen’s girls’ softball team clashed against Bradenton Christian School in the District Finals game at SCF on Friday, April 18. The win went to the BCS team, with the final score of 7-1. Falcon girls have seen their best season since 2008 and will be moving on to the next round, regardless of Friday night’s loss.

That afternoon, BCS girls took charge off the field right of the bat and gained a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

BCS team kept up their aggressive approach as they made a run in the third inning. The game heated back up, now with Falcons making hits. Saint Stephen’s freshman Devon Sullivan scored off of junior Kayla Hayes’s hit in the fifth inning.

The Falcons seemed to get their game on, but BCS reactivated in the sixth inning, scoring four runs and finishing the night with the District Gold.

Martell said she was disappointed with the results of the game but was proud of her team for making it that far.

“We put everything we had into the game, and that is all I could ask for,” she said.

Martell added the Falcons had minor complications prior to the final game.

“Coming into finals, we had some players dealing with injuries…so we knew we were going to have to stay tough and push through it,” she said.

Junior Kirsten Samuels, the team’s pitcher, said it is a huge accomplishment for the Saint Stephen’s softball program to be going to Regionals.

“In my five years playing here, we have never even dreamed of making it this far,” she said.

Junior Kayla Hayes  agreed that this year’s results are a definite improvement and said she hopes the team’s advancement will encourage people to play.

In the Regional game, Hayes said the girls look forward to getting a re-match with BCS to redeem themselves. She added that the team will be practicing every day until the upcoming game and will be working on polishing their game.

“We’ll definitely be on our best game when we move on to the next round,” Hayes said.

Samuels said she hopes to do well in the next round, even though it will be difficult to do so.

“It’s a bit unrealistic to think that we could make it much further, but then again, last year we didn’t think it was possible to be in the District Finals game,” she said.