PEMBROKE PINES -- Although the Key West High softball team did not win a game in the Speedball Classic over the weekend, coach Steve Wells was extremely pleased with the way his team played against very good competition.

On Friday night, the Lady Conchs lost 13-5 to Space Coast. Wells said they had one bad inning -- giving up seven runs in the first -- and then settled down and played good ball.

"The first three batters should have been out. We had three errors and shut them down afterwards but could never catch up to them," the coach explained. "They're a very good team. I watched them play other games throughout the tournament and they are a very competitive team."

Lauren Wells smacked a pair of doubles and Ceci Cervantes hammered a two-base hit. Rachel Quad went the distance on the rubber for Key West.

On Saturday morning, the Conchs took on Wellington losing 11-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Key West held a 10-9 lead heading into the seventh, but Wellington rallied to take the win.

"Britney Price was my star on Saturday. She hit the ball well at DH, which is what I've been hoping for from her," said Wells. "Savannah Hawthorne threw a complete game. It was a great game. We came up in the top of the seventh down two runs and took the lead only to let them beat us. We had good defense and hit the ball well."

In the finale, Key West faced Ferguson for the second time this season and the outcome was the same. In the Westminster Preseason Classic, Ferguson beat the Conchs, 5-4, in the last inning. On Saturday, the Falcons did the same, beating Key West, 4-3, in their last at-bats.

"We had them 3-1 going into the last inning but they came back on us," Wells said. "My girls are playing a little bit scared. These other teams play a lot of these tournaments and are used to this type of competition whereas my girls choked a little bit at times when we needed to be a little tougher. I'm sure these other teams went through this also. This is our best tournament.

"Overall, the girls felt great, the morale was up and everyone was swinging the bat. It was a good three-game set."

The Conchs have a week of practice in preparation for their trip to Marathon on Saturday for their second game of the season. Last week, Key West edged the Lady Dolphins 4-3, so Marathon will be primed on their home field to win the game as they did last year.

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It was also a busy week for the county's tennis teams, as Key West, Marathon and Coral Shores each competed in matches against one another.

The Dolphins' girls picked up wins over the Conchs and Hurricanes, and also topped Palmer Trinity in a doubleheader Saturday after losing their first match of the season to Westminster Christian.

In the Saturday twinbill, the Dolphins opened against the Warriors without top player Marisa Brossard, who found out during Friday's practice that she had earned entry into a USTA sectional tournament over the weekend. The Dolphins fell, 4-3, to Westminster and Brossard returned during the Palmer match and competed in a doubles match to help Marathon take a 5-2 win.

Against Westminster, Marina Kay Wiatt, Alana Vassil and the doubles team of Michaelle Rose Bellevue and Wiatt picked up wins.

"It was a great opportunity for (Brossard), and a great opportunity for the other players to play up and to face new and more difficult opponents," Marathon coach Chris Bull said.

Against Palmer, Angela Farello, Bellevue and Wiatt each earned singles wins, while the team of Brossard and Bellevue and the tandem of Farello and Wiatt each picked up 8-6 doubles wins.

"The girls bounced back well," Bull said. "The team is mentally and physically sore and spent after this doubleheader. However, they will emerge better players for the experience and I am glad this day went the way it did."

The Marathon girls will return to action Friday, against St. Brendan at Tropical Park.

The Marathon boys opened the week with a 6-1 win over Coral Shores, and then fell, 6-1, at Key West the next day.

Against the Hurricanes, Riley Durkin, Weston Wiatt, Vinny Massaro and Kaleb Culbertson each picked up singles wins and the team swept the doubles matches, with Durkin and Wiatt winning the first and Massaro and Matt DeFillips taking the second.

For the Conchs, the boys team is off to a hot start, while the girls (1-2) got into the win column for the first time this week.

The boys sqaud (3-0) has been led by Nick Scammacca, Sonny Knowles and Justin Poon, who are all 3-0 on the season.

"It had heard the boys were good," said first year coach John Moeller, who coach the wrestling team last year. "But what I like about the guys is they have a fire in their bellys. They are hungry and really want to get better and I like it."

The boys have beaten Coral Shores, Marathon and Pace, while the girls' win is over Pace.