Red Oxley graduated Bartow as one of the top two or three pitchers in Polk County history and with the addition of her bat she might have been the best all-around player in county history With pitching being such an important part of the game but the Yellow Jackets had two pitchers behind Oxley who should again give Bartow some of the top pitching in the Polk this season saw their pitching fortunes take a dip even before the season started 1 starter Jordan Honeycutt is out for the season with a knee injury who was expected to be the ace for Lakeland Christian is out after sustaining a hand injury this past weekend Last year’s senior class was strong as nine players who were first-team all-county selections graduated along with three more second-team selections the county boasts another deep pool of talent and the top teams are expected to be — in no particular order — Lake Region Here are 45 players to watch as the 2025 high school softball season gets under way this week From 2024: Meet the player of the year and All-Polk County team for softball 2025 Baseball Preview: Here are Polk County's top 20 players to watch this season Meadows is the top returning pitcher in the county and was the Thunder’s top hitter last season she went 9-5 with a 1.17 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings She batted .451 with 19 RBI and a .520 on-base percentage Davis returns as the Highlanders’ top hitter 29 runs scored and a .440 on-base percentage C)Aldridge is moving from catcher to third base She batted .347 with a .429 on-base percentage with 23 RBI and 27 runs scored she batted .348 last season with a team-high 27 RBI Knowlton when 6-0 with a 1.20 ERA and will again give Bartow elite pitching In her second season as the Highlanders’ No Hinojosa emerged as one of the top pitchers in the county last season as she went 9-3 with a 2.06 ERA She also batted .379 in limited plate appearances 2 pitcher for the Thunder She went 6-0 with a 2.53 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 47 innings Reeder is recovering from knee surgery that she had last summer but the Thunder hope to have her back to normal by  the second half of the season Donalson batted .441 last season with a team-high 23 RBI 2B/P)Duque teams with Hinojosa to give the Eagles a solid 1-2 pitching pitching duo She went 6-2 with a 2.68 ERA and also batted .321 with 23 runs scored Seymour batted .364 last season with 11 extra-base hits and 13 RBI and 22 runs scored Brantley has signed with Keiser and batted .402 with 10 extra-base hits and 20 RBI last season Carroll was one of the top young players in the county last season as an eighth-grader She batted .500 with 16 extra-base hits and 30 RBI all county last season and is the only left-handed batter in the Thunder’s lineup P/IF)McBurrows is a hard thrower who should improve on her record last year when she went 2-1 with a 1.44 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings She could be a bigger presence in the lineup went 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA and will team with Knowlton to replace Oxley Parker has the potential to be a big bat in Bartow’s lineup Vazquez is a top hitter and defensive third baseman She is back for her sophomore year after not being able to finish last season when she was batting .429 Donalson was the team’s top hitter last year as she batted .574 with 15 extra-base hits and 23 RBI SS)The high-scoring basketball standout also excels in softball She batted .385 last season with 28 runs scored and 14 stolen bases Wright is the Bloodhounds’ top returning hitter Johnson batted .281 last year and will be a bigger part of the offense this season Huffman is expected to be one of the impact freshmen in the county this season Cockrell is expected to be a power hitter in the Lake Wales lineup and one of the top freshmen in the county P)Skipper batted .296 last year and posted a 3.24 ERA She and Chloe Lanier will benefit with th addition of pitching coach Mic Boelens Lewis is being recruited by colleges and batted .317 last season Lewis will team with Nadie in the pitching circle Lanier posted a .3.39 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 95 innings Bergeron is the top returning hitter for the Bolts among players with at least 50 plate appearances as she batted .382 last season Bodison batted .343 and is the top returning player for the Bolts Franco Zapian batted .297 last season and is expected to be a bigger presence in the line up this season P)McGee pitches in travel ball and is expected to give the Crimson Hawks dependable work inside the pitching circle and also be a top hitter C)Rosa is new to Lake Region and will give the Thunder a defensive catcher with a strong arm Ellis is moving from third to short and should be a run-producer in the middle of the lineup Thornton batted .543 last season with 21 RBI Johnson batted .392 last season with 3 home runs and 39 RBI Pinkston batted .364 with 38 runs scored in ’24 Tyler batter .463 with 23 RBI but her work in the pitching circle with Riley Merritt to make up for the loss of Lawson will be important Ramirez is the Miners’ top pitcher and will look to improve on her 8-3 record with a 1.32 ERA Hammen will move to catcher to replace Maisy Schiller we favour the natural development of the holm oak’s root system which can improve its resilience to the new climate scenarios that are already occurring.” the experts determined that the microclimate generated by the tree shelters did not significantly increase the survival of either the seedlings grown from directly seeded acorns or the seedlings from the IFAPA ‘Camino de Purchil’ nursery in the province of Granada factors such as the initial quality of the nursery-grown seedlings and the mass of the acorns (key indicators of viability) as well as adequate soil treatment and early-stage care This information helps to simplify the restoration process in dry Mediterranean areas which usually requires long periods of preparation in nurseries resulting in higher economic and logistical costs The study, entitled ‘Microclimatic effects of tree shelters on the early establishment and resilience of seeded acorns vs. outplanted seedlings’ and published in the Journal of Environmental Management survival and resprouting rate of holm oak seedlings that were protected by different types of shelters: closed plastic tubes 600 acorns were sown and 300 nursery-grown seedlings were planted Additional variables such as mother tree and initial acorn mass were also analysed The researchers found that the installation of microclimatic protection did not improve the survival or development of the plants The emergence rate of seeded acorns (Quercus ilex subsp ballota) was increased only by the closed plastic tubes with a 22% difference compared to the control this type of shelter did not improve their survival rate and caused abnormal growth in all the plants due to a sharp reduction in the amount of light entering the tubes explains to the «Fundación Descubre» Andalusian Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Innovation: «If protection against both domestic and wild herbivores is required this should be done using wire mesh or other types of protection that do not alter the microclimate and are suitable for each type of animal More attention should also be paid to the quality of the plant or acorn soil treatment and control of weed competition» the researchers propose the direct seeding of holm oak acorns as a strategy to improve the restoration of dehesas whose main environmental problem is the lack of regeneration The experts assert that this method is as effective as growing seedlings in a nursery provided that acorns of a larger size and mass are selected from mother trees with a high germination capacity —indicators of their quality and viability— and that the environmental conditions during the early stages of growth such as competition with weeds and predators The use of direct seeding limits intermediate steps thereby reducing the amount of resources required and facilitating the implementation of large-scale projects in degraded ecosystems Direct seeding simplifies the restoration process in dry Mediterranean areas The researchers therefore also recommend this method in order to prevent the introduction of possible pathogens they suggest using specially designed shelters to prevent predation by animals such as pigs as well as wild animals such as deer and mountain goats and avoiding plastic shelters that could disturb the plant’s microclimate or contaminate the environment The research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Regional Ministry of Universities, Research and Innovation of Andalusia Article in Spanish: Siembra directa y protección adecuada: claves para la regeneración de las dehesas mediterráneas (Direct seeding and proper protection: Keys to the regeneration of Mediterranean dehesas ) Navarro, F. B.; Ripoll, M. Á.; Carbonero, M. D. y Jiménez, M. N. (2024). ‘‘Microclimatic effects of tree shelters on the early establishment and resilience of seeded acorns vs. outplanted seedlings’. Journal of Environmental Management Translated version: This text has been translated into English by the Language Services Unit (Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization) of the University of Granada Polk County has had at least one team in the state softball tournament in 33 of the 35 years in which the tournament has been held including 16 years when there were multiple teams So the odds are in the county’s favor that at least one of the top Polk teams will be playing in Clermont in mid-May although some stiff competition are in the way of the top teams The first step to that goal of a final four berth begins this week in the softball district tournaments Here is how Polk teams should fare in districts and beyond Bartow’s level of talent this year would make it a lock for a state title but the top five teams in the state according to FHSAA rankings are all 6A teams so the Yellow Jackets are heavily favored to win the district title Red Oxley sports and ERA of 0.10 and allowed two runs and one earned run all season and hasn’t been overused as Ryleigh Knowlton (1.27 ERA) and Brooklyn Tyson (0.99) have accounted for 48 percent of the innings Despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the state Kyndal Cornelius (.387) and McKenzie Gibson (.372) Oxley has been one of the top hitters in the county in her first three years but has slumped recently .214 in her last 12 games But she’s still batting .304 for the season Bartow’s only loss has been to Melbourne and FSU-signee Jasmine Francik in early April Francik also beat Bartow in the region finals two years ago and it appears the two teams are on course to meet in the region finals this year has emerged as the second-best team in the county The emergence of pitchers Jazlyn Duque (1.67 ERA) and Layla Hinojosa (1.94) have been key Duque missed a bout a month of pitching because of an injury and has pitched three times since returning to the pitching circle Freshman Olivia Friel (1.53) also has provided a boost pitching Peyton Spears (.360) has been a big run producer with 29 RBIs and has more support this year with Duque (.333) Audrey Gideon (.324) and Olivia Newman (.315) Chelsea Odro (.417) and Hinojosa (.407) have about half the at-bats as regulars but each have 11 RBIs and Hinojosa has seven extra-base hits among her 11 hits 5A-6: Auburndale hoping tough schedule pays offDistrict Rankings: 1 Analysis: Auburndale is a lock for the playoffs as the No 2 seed in the region behind district rival Horizon The Bloodhounds boast the toughest strength of schedule in the region and likely will face Horizon for the district title Hailey Bradley leads the lineup and is batting .371 The Bloodhounds have split with Lake Wales and have a win over McKeel Analysis: Lake Region and Lake Wales each have been to the state tournament three times in the past 10 years with one state title Lake Wales beat Lake Region the past two years to get to state but sustained heavy losses to graduations Lake Region has been the best team in the district Four of its seven loss have been to Bartow and George Jenkins Lake Region has played the toughest schedule in 4A and is looking to use that experience to make another run at the final four Makenna Meadows is one of the top all-around players in the county She’s batting .406 and is the second-best pitcher behind Oxley boasting a 1.07 ERA against strong competition But the question concerning the Thunder is if their lineup is deep enough Lake Wales has played the third-toughest schedule in the county Lake Wales began the season 3-7 but is 10-5 and is looking to repeat last season’s performance by peaking late After a slow start the batting has continually improved sophomore Keira Davis is batting .480 and has been red hot Junior Jamie Sepsick is the top new starter with a .354 batting average with a team-leading 24 RBIs Florida Southern-signee Keira Morris is hitting .294 with a team-high four home runs and is second with 18 RBIs Karsyn Maddox is batting .255 but is batting .391 over the past nine games Anna Conroy had a 3.19 ERA in her championship season and has lowered it to 1.94 this year she has gotten stronger as the season progressed posting a 0.70 ERA in her last nine appearances and basketball sensation Lorianys Castanon Cruz is batting .403 3A-10: McKeel favored in district District Rankings: 1 Analysis: McKeel has the third-toughest strength of the schedule and No but will face an uphill battle in the postseason Olivia Villa (.286) and Amarri Durant (.283) are the top hitters Chloe Lanier (3.27 ERA) and Skipper (2.96) are the Wildcats pitchers Frostproof is led by pitcher Belle Mancillas who has signed with Santa Fe Community College 1 pitcher with a 1.24 ERA and is batting .345 who went 7 for 8 with three home runs and 11 RBIs this past week Trinity Gary (.327) and Callie Hayes (.317) add depth to the lineup The district is up for grabs as McKeel and Frostproof split regular-season meetings Analysis: With the exception of senior McKenna Gravitt all of the Vikings players are seventh and eighth graders They’ve shown their talent with the way they’ve feasted on a less-than-challenging schedule The Vikings are favored to win the district Gravity (.400) provides the senior leadership Paityn Donalson (.596) and Callie Thornton (.526) are among the young players with bright futures Fort Meade likely will play Seffner Christian in the semifinals should be able to hang on to a top eight in region ranking to make the playoffs Marleigh Carroll (.524) is the Miners’ top hitter with help from Cailynn Johnson (.339)