How Sweet It Is
by George Diaz
Under a dark and gloomy sky in the spring of 2025, the Hagerty High School softball team’s season also faded to black.
This isn’t a clichéd scene setter from a bad novel. It was a disappointing, frustrating reality. A nearly six-hour rain delay before the start of the girls’ FHSAA Class 7A final. A first pitch that wasn’t delivered until 10:38 p.m. When the game ended at nearly 1:00 a.m., Hagerty’s Huskies had lost to Wellington Community High School 8-7.
At the time, Hagerty’s future looked bleak. Coach Thomas Kreahling would have to replace eight seniors, as well as become a motivational guru for new and returning players.
“If you told me at the end of last year going into the offseason that we would make it all the way to the state championship game [in 2026], I would have looked at you like you were probably a little crazy,” he says.
Flipping the Script
The season’s ending would flip this year, after Hagerty catcher Campbell Downing stroked a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning, leading the Huskies (27-4) to their first softball state championship since 2018. The 2-0 victory over Western High School was the final step of the team’s redemption road journey.
“Remembering how painful it was to lose in such an important game like that was definitely our focus this season,” says Nikki Thompson, who was team captain. “It was definitely a fuel that I used throughout practices and the games leading up to the state championship.”
The big win reflected months of hard work, starting with a reload versus rebuild approach. Coach Kreahling was meticulous in charting incremental steps of progress, starting with a conditioning program and playing as a team in Seminole County’s informal fall league.
A March tournament in Clearwater provided tangible results, with Hagerty emerging undefeated in four games.
The next marker was an April tournament in Kissimmee, which saw Hagerty going 3-1.
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot
To advance to the state tournament, Hagerty first took care of business close to home with a win over Lake Brantley in the regionals by the slimmest of margins: 1-0.
“You just have to get hot at the right time and we did just that when we got to that game,” says Coach Kreahling. “The next three games were all magical. The kids believed in themselves, and we got on a roll. Our pitching was fantastic, the defense was amazing, and we got the hits when we needed to.”
Pitcher Bella Ortiz, a dominant new face on the team, had an outstanding postseason, not allowing a run in her last three playoff starts. Pitcher Addie Dilger was equally impressive on the mound.
“Bella and Addie carried us throughout the season,” says Coach Kreahling. “Addie started the district championship game and the regional semifinal. And then we got to the regional final, and it was Bella’s turn for the ball. Something clicked, and she got hot. She ate the right breakfast; she ate her Wheaties.”
In the end, however, it wasn’t one player or one moment that led to the state title. It was the culmination of laser focus from a team determined to erase the memory of the previous season’s final game.
“We all got really close together and developed a sense of trust in each other,” says Nikki, who graduated in May. “We all had the same end goal – to make a deep run in states. It was easy to bond and become a family again.”