West Orange softball enters break after six-win week

The West Orange softball team is enjoying a well-deserved spring break after going 6-0 last week.

The Warriors improved to 21-1 on the season by the end of their busy week — a week that started with the team avenging its only loss of the season by defeating the Apopka Blue Darters 10-2 March 17 in a game broadcast on Bright House Sports Network.

West Orange continued its winning ways over Harmony, Ocoee, Winter Springs, Montverde and Winter Springs again, by a combined score of 40-5 to close out the week.

And, though the Warriors’ pitching, defense and hitting were stellar, head coach Todd LaNeave said the most important thing his girls did was to play calmly and have fun.

“The girls are really just relaxed and playing loose,” LaNeave said. “I thought in the Apopka game, even though we got down early 2-0, you could sense they weren’t as concerned this time.”

Although the Warriors scored a bunch of runs during the six-game stretch, much as they have all season, it was West Orange’s pitching duo of Lauren Mathis and Kelsey Morrison that assured opposing teams wouldn’t keep pace with the Warriors’ offensive production.

Mathis relieved Morrison after she gave up two early runs to Apopka and went on to earn a win in that game before tossing two no-hitters later in the week (against Ocoee and Winter Springs). Although Morrison surrendered some early runs against the Blue Darters on Tuesday, she bounced back to earn wins against Harmony and in the first of two games against Winter Springs March 21 while also picking up a save in the victory against Montverde.

“My focus has always been on pitching and defense,” LaNeave said. “We are going to come across situations where we’re not going to score 10 runs a game like we’re averaging. … We talk going into every game about trying to be perfect defensively.”

Offensively, Lexie Blair and Morrison combined for 17 RBIs over the course of week (Blair drove in nine runs while Morrison batted in eight), to key a Warriors batting order that is dangerous from top to bottom.

With three regular-season games remaining following the team’s return from the break, LaNeave said it would be important for the Warriors to keep playing loosely as they ready for the district tournament beginning on April 13.

“We’re not focusing on the outcome; we’re focusing on that particular moment that we’re in,” LaNeave said.