14u Central Florida Eagles soaring at TC OKC

by Bradey King

The 14uB Central Florida Select Eagles finished up pool play on Sunday afternoon at the TC OKC event with a record of 3-1, and each game satisfied better than the last. In their final game against the TSF Elite – Herrera from Texas, everything was clicking and Central Florida earned the 10-2 victory.

It was TSF that got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead after the first inning. The Eagles finally pushed on the gas pedal in the third inning to put themselves up 5-1.

The third inning rally started with a pair of walks and a hit by pitch that loaded the bases for McKenna (JoJo) Mulholland. She hit a sky-high fly ball that the TSF second baseman couldn’t handle and two runs scored. Right after, Grace Thomas crushed a double for two more RBI.

“Bases are loaded, I know I gotta do something. My coach always says make something happen so I put the ball in play and you know it happened to fall. I know my team has my back the entire time which makes everything 10 times easier,” said Mulholland.

Mulholland was on base all three times for the Eagles and finished 2-3 with a single and a double. She also crushed a team high four RBI. 

The Eagles tacked on another run in the fourth to make it 6-1 on an inside-the-park home run by Delacia Deleslin. The rest of the offense exploded in the top of the fifth to run away with the game. 

“We started the game without our starters so at the end I just put the starters back in and got our mojo going,” said head coach Kristi Mindrup.

The Eagles were solid on defense all game. Both shortstop and left field made incredible catches and the rest of the team consistently made the routine plays behind their pitcher, Thomas. 

Thomas allowed a handful of hits and struck out one TSF batter.  

“I know I’m a good pitcher but I’m not a strikeout pitcher. I’m always counting on my defense and I always trust them to have my back. This is probably the best defense I could ever have behind me,” said Thomas.

The Eagles have come a long way to be in OKC and they are fired up and ready for bracket play on Monday.

“I expect my team to just keep striving; we’re hitting the ball pretty well right now. Everyone has a great attitude and attitude and effort wins ball games,” added Mulholland.