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Bloomingdale Wins Spring Fling Tournament

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Bloomingdale High School's Leah Pemberton, #5, circles the bases after an inside-the-park homerun.

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By NICK WILLIAMS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 28, 2009

BRANDON - Bloomingdale senior pitcher Kaylyn Camacho has played against some of the best softball players in the world.

Since her freshman year, she has pitched for the Puerto Rico Junior National softball team. One year, the team finished second in the Pan American Softball Championships.

Camacho's championship-game experience has been invaluable for Bloomingdale, and Saturday the senior picked up the Jon Sinclair Memorial Spring Fling Tournament MVP award and a $500 scholarship after leading the Bulls to their second Spring Fling title. Camacho allowed six hits in a 6-0 victory against River Ridge.

"It's a big accomplishment for me, but also for my team," said Camacho, who has committed to Hillsborough Community College. "I had a good defense behind me. I'm just so happy we did our best."

In the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, River Ridge had a runner on second and third with two outs, but Camacho (10-4) forced a groundout in the sixth and a pop fly in the seventh to end the game. She finished with nine strikeouts and three walks.

"Camacho did an outstanding job," Bloomingdale coach Mike Clamon said.

The Bulls (16-5) defeated Alonso, 5-1, in the semifinals to advance.

"They see they can beat good teams," Clamon said.

Bloomingdale scored six runs on nine hits in the final, with senior Destani Frye going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, and freshman Jordan Alexandra adding two hits and two runs. Freshman Leah Pemberton hit an inside-the-park home run, scoring her second run of the day to give the Bulls a 6-0 lead.

Sarah Simon and Madison Morris had two hits apiece to lead River Ridge (16-4), while Ana Alberti struck out five in the loss. Sophomore pitcher Lakyn Shull was the runner-up for MVP honors.

Alonso defeated Brandon 11-6 in the third-place game, and Academy of the Holy Names beat Durant, 8-0, to win the consolation bracket. Plant defeated Jefferson in the fifth-place game.

Alonso senior catcher Courtney Clark was third-place MVP while Holy Names freshman Kalyn Cenal picked up the consolation MVP award.

Shull, Clark and Cenal each were awarded $250 scholarship checks.

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 259-7851.

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