Class 6A state semifinal: Pace outlasts Land O' Lakes to reach state championship game

Pace's Jayden Heavener finishes the game with 17 strikeouts and downs the Gators to reach state title game

CLERMONT, FLORIDA- Jayden Heavener and the Pace Patriots have been at this point before. 

State semifinals and on the cusp of reaching a state championship game, but the one unfortunate circumstance is Pace's ability to reach the big dance. That narrative is no more after Friday afternoon. Heavener brought her best stuff to the mound against the Land O' Lakes Gators in a Class 6A state semifinal as the LSU commitment fanned 17 batters and led Pace to a 3-0 win. 

With the victory, Pace returns to the state championship game for the first time since the 2007 season when the Patriots won their lone crown. Now, Heavener and crew look to add another championship to the trophy case and await the winner of the Doral Academy-Bartow semifinal. 

"We've played (Land O' Lakes) before. Haven't faced them since freshman year and pitched a couple innings, but I was hurt. Coming out here and pitching a whole game felt really good," Heavener said. "Being able to know all year I've been able to do really well with my mechanics, I had a lot of confidence in myself knowing I could throw strikes and have my defense behind me."

Fortunately for Heavener, she didn't need her defense behind her as much with all of the strikeouts she was racking up throughout the contest. The opening inning showcased what many around the state already knew: Heavener is a strikeout machine. Heavener in the opening inning struckout the Land O' Lakes (19-12) first three batters on 16 pitches, which set the tone for the game. 

Land O' Lakes starting pitcher Aliana Mercado stood toe-to-toe with the Pace ace through the first several innings, compiling five strikeouts. Scoring threats were few and far between as neither team could figure out the opposing pitcher on the mound. The game gave a feel of whomever scored first would pull away with the victory. 

"Knowing with the hitting we've been doing, that game wasn't our best hitting at all," Heavener added. "But we had at least one hot bat and that's what got us there. This whole year, we've been using everyone's bats and I was glad someone was able to come through. I'm glad it was Shelby (McKenzie)."

Pace (28-1) finally broke through against Mercado in the sixth inning with three runs and it came off of the bat of junior Shelby McKenzie, who belted a 3-run homer to take the lead. With Heavener pitching a one-hitter going into the final two innings, she would keep the Gators off the scoreboard en route to clinching a berth in the Class 6A final tomorrow at 12 p.m.

"It's so awesome," Pace head coach Lexi Worrell said about her team reaching the Class 6A final. "They made it here the last three years and they finally made it past this game. The girls get to play for a state championship and it's exciting and I know they're excited. At first they said it wasn't going to be a close game between us, but I knew (Land O' Lakes) didn't make it here for no reason. They're a good team. I knew with final four jitters, I knew we would pull through."

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.