TAMPA, Fla. — You won't find a younger softball group in Citrus County other than the ones out of Crystal River.

What You Need To Know

  • Crystal River's softball team is a young group 

  • Alyssa Hamilton is the new head coach' she played on the team that went to the final four in 2019

  • Pirates closed out this season in the regional quarterfinals this year

  • Freshman pitcher Violet Flynn is currently No. 1 in the nation

Their season wrapped up in the regional quarterfinals and the team is ecstatic for the future of this program. 

The Pirates are coached by Alyssa Hamilton, a former Crystal River outfielder, and shortstop, recently turned head coach.

Hamilton told Spectrum Sports 360's Katya Guillaume, "This is my second year. First year as head coach, like a half year."

She was part of the 2018-2019 team that made school history, being the second Pirates team to make a final four appearance.

"I tell them about it a lot," Hamilton said. "Relate back to it, just so they know that, like, someone that is here to work with them, went and got to experience something like that and that's something I push them for."

The team is graduating just three seniors, so there's plenty of time to mold the group into a championship-caliber team.

The star pitcher is only a freshman, who picked up a baseball before ever playing softball. She was the only girl on an all-boys team.

"Well, when I first started playing," Violet Flynn started saying, "I really didn't like sports that much, but I met a lot of friends that helped me like love the sport."

Friends turned teammates, hard work and dedication are all part of her success, rising to the top as one of Citrus County's brightest and toughest pitchers.

Her arm is like a rocket, and her accuracy is unmatched.

"I would definitely give props to my pitching coach, Coach Jet. She's basically the one who shaped me as a pitcher. I was like OK before I went to her, but she really helped me with my speed and my movement a lot."

On the mound, Violet led the county in strikeouts with 272, ranking 5th in the state. She walked just 30 batters in 138 innings pitched and was among the best in the nation recording four no-hitters.

She was also dominant at the plate, with a .570 batting average.

Hamilton said, "Being a freshman with the stats that she's putting up is really remarkable, in my opinion. I played with a really good pitcher all the way through and to see another one come through Crystal River is really promising."

She said this young team has the potential of making it all the way, and she wants to be the one to take them there. 

The Pirates went through a lot of changes to start the year but that has not stopped them from finding success this year.

Crystal River doesn't have a JV team so many of them came from travel ball, so the transition was an adjustment for some. 

Hamilton told Guillaume that being closer in age to the girls is what makes her more relatable to them

This team went 17-9 this season but unfortunately lost to Santa Fe in the Regional Quarterfinals, this is the most success they've seen since the Pirates made a final-four appearance in that 2019 year when coach Hamilton was on the team. 

Since she's really building a new successful team, she said this off-season, she'll focus on fine-tuning what they've had in place this year, recruit more players who will buy into her coaching method, and prepare a championship-worthy team.