High school softball: Florida pitcher strikes out 37 in dramatic playoff win

It took 17 innings, but sophomore Sydney Scapin of West Florida (Pensacola) nearly matched a Florida high school softball state record Wednesday by striking out 37 batters in a 4-3 playoff win over Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville).

The Class 4A regional quarterfinal contest was scoreless for 16 innings until Bishop Kenny struck for three in the top of the 17th and West Florida countered with four in the bottom half to win.

According to the Pensacola News Journal, 481 pitches were thrown and the game took four hours to complete.

Scapin didn't earn the win despite her incredible 37-strikeout performance. She was set up to be the loser until she came through at the plate and on the base paths, ultimately scoring the game-winning run.

Considered a top college prospect, the hard-throwing right-hander mowed down batter after batter, and came within one strikeout of the state mark of 38 set by Kelsi Dunn of Spruce Creek, which also needed 17 innings to beat Lake Mary in 2006.

But Scapin, the state's strikeout leader with 301 in 136 innings, was relieved with one out in the 17th. She watched as her team fell behind after giving up six hits, eight walks and two earned runs.

For the season, Scapin has allowed 49 hits while maintaining a 1.13 ERA. She's struck out at least 12 in 17 of 19 outings with highs before Wednesday of 27 and 22. She couldn't believe her team was going to come up short in a game she struck out more than three dozen.

"(I thought) ‘Oh my God, we're going to lose," Scapin told the News Journal. "But honestly, we pulled through and I'm so proud of us."

Scapin had a big hand in the team's game-winning rally, first with a two-run double to tie it at 3-3. She then scored the game-winning run on a single from Madelyn Laubach.

"I literally just collapsed at home plate like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just did that,' " Scapin said. "It's totally mind-blowing almost. We did that."

West Florida (15-10) plays Paxon School For Advanced Studies (Jacksonville) in next week's regional semifinal.

Though Scapin's performance was noteworthy, it wasn't close to the national single-game record of 61 strikeouts set by Alicia Hollowell of Fairfield (Calif.) in a 2002 game that lasted 30 innings over two days against Woodland.

Hollowell broke the mark of DeDe Weiman, who struck out 53 in a 29-inning win for Gahr (Cerritos, Calif.) over St. Joseph (Lakewood), which got 48 strikeouts from its pitcher Lisa Fernandez.