Merritt Island Baseball Advances to Semifinals, Viera Softball Set to Face Niceville for Berth in State Finals

By  //  May 23, 2018

Mustangs defeat Plantation American Heritage

The Mustangs defeated Plantation American Heritage to advance to the state semifinals in Ft. Myers on May 30 when they take on Naples’ Barron Collier Cougars. (Image for Space Coast Daily)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – High School seniors may have graduated and Brevard County Schools may begin summer vacation after classes on Wednesday but three Space Coast area teams are hoping to extend the athletic portions of their school years with wins in FHSAA State Tournament play in the coming days.

Following three postponements, including one on Tuesday, the Viera Hawks girls softball team is scheduled to face Niceville in the Class 7A State semifinal game today at historic Dodgertown.

The winner will face either Fort Myers or Pembroke Pines Charter for the state championship.

The Hawks had a remarkable season finishing 26-1 with their only loss coming way back on March 16 during a tournament in Jupiter to Wellington who finished 27-3 this season.

Viera reached the Final 4 with a 4-2 win over Chamberlain back on May 11.

Niceville, who won a state championship in 2011 and have lost in the title game on three occasions, enters tonight’s game with a season mark of 21-6. The Eagles are ranked No.5 in the state of Florida, according to Max Preps, and reached the Final 4 with a 10-3 win over Gainesville in their state regional final

Viera ranked No.13 according to that same Max Preps poll is led at the dish by junior Madison Headley, who had 46 hits in 81 at-bats (.586) this season.

The Hawks power is provided by a couple of juniors in Taylor Jensen and Kelly Bishop. Jensen batted .420 with three home runs and led the team with 32 runs batted in while Bishop added two round-trippers and 21 RBI’s.

In the circle, the Hawks are young but very, very good. Sophomore Corrin Flajole is 10-0 with an astounding earned run average of 0.72. Her partner is freshman Karyana Mitchell, who went 15-1 with a 0.82 ERA.

Mitchell has 89 strikeouts in 94 innings pitched so far tis season and she hit a huge three-run home run late to propel the Hawks to a 5-2 victory over Deltona in the Class 7A regional semifinals.

If you can’t make the trip to Dodgertown to watch the game live you can watch it on the FHSAA Network. 

ABOVE VIDEO: In a game seen on Space Coast Daily TV last week, the Merritt Island Mustangs defeated their rivals, the Rockledge Raiders to advance to play American Heritage at Clint Hurdle Field in Merritt Island Tuesday. The Mustangs defeated Plantation American Heritage to advance to the state semifinals in Ft. Myers on May 30 when they take on Naples’ Barron Collier Cougars.

Stay tuned to Space Coast Daily for updates on these games and other sports news.

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