Lake Okeechobee News/Richard Marion
OKEECHOBEE — Jacee Jumper hits a ground ball in Okeechobee’s game against South Fork on March 13.

OKEECHOBEE — The Okeechobee High School varsity Lady Brahman softball team increased their record to 5-3 ahead of spring break.

The Lady Brahmans beat Fort Pierce Central and Centennial on March 10 and 12, while they lost to South Fork and Oxbridge Academy on March 13 in a doubleheader.

Okeechobee jumped up on Fort Pierce Central early, putting up five runs in the first three innings. Madison Hargraves brought in one run with a line drive to center field and Elle Thomas hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Thomas would lead the team with four RBIs as the Lady Brahmans would go on to beat Fort Pierce 11-1.

The Lady Brahmans didn’t get as early of a jump on Centennial on March 12. In fact, both teams remained scoreless until the third inning. But in the top of the third, the Lady Brahmans capitalized on a series of errors that put them in the lead. Okeechobee brought in three runs on errors by Centennial, while Jaclyn Pearce brought another home with a ground ball hit in the in-field.

Okeechobee won that game 6-2.

The Lady Brahmans dropped two games in a back-to-back doubleheader on March 13. While a loss is always disappointing, the fact that Okeechobee now has to wait for two weeks at a minimum to rebound from them makes it all the worse.

While the Lady Brahmans were playing South Fork, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that all schools and extracurricular activities would be canceled until at least March 30. On that date a decision will be made regarding the remainder of the year.

After falling behind 2-1 in the top of the fourth against South Fork, the Lady Brahmans came roaring back in the bottom of the inning. Faith Vest singled on a fly ball to center field that brought in two runs. Then Haley Underhill doubled on another fly ball that brought home Vest and made the score 4-2.

That score nearly held until the end of the game. But in the top of the seventh and final inning, South Fork pulled off a bases-loaded triple that scored three runs and put them back in the lead. Two more errors by the Lady Brahmans increased that lead to 8-4. Okeechobee had a chance to even things up, but couldn’t rally in the bottom of the seventh.

A few hours later Oxbridge Academy shut out the Lady Brahmans 5-0.

Because they got off to such a great start to begin the season, the Lady Brahmans are still in great shape despite the two losses. Now they just have to wait and see if they’ll get a chance to finish what they started.