On the shoulders of sophomore Ashley Blessin, Plant City clinched their first Region Finals appearance since 2011 with a 6-2 win over district rival East Bay. The Jacksonville commit pitched her 16th complete game of the season and improved to 4-0 this year vs. the Indians.
East Bay jumped on Blessin early though, with a single from Kylan Armstrong and a walk to Rachel Kingery leading up to a 2-run single from Juliana Uribe.
Blessin would settle down though, allowing only one hit over the final six innings. She earned Player of the Game honors, striking out nine East Bay batters.
The Raiders tied the game in the bottom of the second, capitalizing on two Indians errors and two hit batsmen, with runs scored by Emily Longoria and Emily Sanders.
The deciding run came from a blast off of Beka Schulte in the bottom of the third, with her second home run of the season traveling well past the left field fence.
Plant City tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth and another run in the bottom of the sixth, which was more than enough for Blessin (21-2 this season).
The Raiders (21-2) will be looking for their first-ever Final Four appearance, but will have to go through nationally-ranked powerhouse Lakewood Ranch.
East Bay (18-10) was making their first Region Semifinal appearance since 2010, when they won the 5A State Championship.
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