Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Douglas slips past Monarch, 3-1; Charter, Aquinas roll to wins
PARKLAND — With a spot in the regional finals on the line, Gianna Lovito came through in the clutch.
Holding a 3-1 lead entering the decisive seventh inning at home Tuesday afternoon, Douglas’ starting pitcher found herself in a jam. Three consecutive runners had reached base and district-rival Monarch had cut the lead to one on an RBI sacrifice fly.
The Knights had the goahead run on second — and all the momentum.
But Lovito never wavered.
In Monarch’s next atbat, the junior right-hander induced a game-ending flyout as Douglas survived Monarch, 3-2, to stay alive in Florida Class 9A regional play.
“[I was thinking] just stay focused on this pitch and don’t worry about any of the noise around me,” said Lovito, recalling the final inning.
The win puts Douglas (24-6) back in the regional finals for the second time in the past three years. The Eagles reached the state semifinals in 2015 before falling to Coral Reef. Last year, the team failed to get past districts.
At the plate Tuesday, the top of the Eagles’ lineup was stellar against Monarch in the the teams’ fourth meeting this season. Monique Potiven, Allison Kerce and Jackie McKenna finished the game a combined 5-for-9, as each player drove in a run.
“We’ve been working on our hitting every single day and we know this pitcher like the back of our hand,” Lovito said.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning after an Adryanna English RBI triple, Douglas tied the game in the third and then tacked on two more in the ensuing inning to take the lead. — Wells Dusenbury
C.S. CHARTER 7, LABELLE 0: Coral Springs Charter moved a step closer to becoming the first Broward County high school softball team to win three consecutive state titles, breezing past LaBelle in the Region 4-5A semifinals.
Ally Muraskin, a UCF signee and finalist on MaxPreps’ National Player of the Year watch list, led the Panthers to their 20th shutout of the season. The senior right-hander (27-1) struck out 14 batters in a complete-game effort.
Shannon Doherty hammered a two-run home run in the third inning to put Charter up for good. The sophomore also added two walks in four at-bats, while senior Amanda Flynn finished 2-for-4 with one run, one RBI and three stolen bases.
The Panthers (27-1), who finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in Florida and stayed undefeated at home for the third straight season, are oh-so-close to making Broward history.
With three more wins Charter would join Palm Beach County’s American Heritage-Delray (2011-2013) and Miami Gulliver Prep (which won four from 2010-2013) as the only South Florida teams to have earned a softball state title three-peat.
"It would be a monumental accomplishment,” Panthers coach Mark Montimurro said, “but we still have three tall challenges ahead of us."
CSC travels to Gulliver on Friday at 4 p.m. in the Region 4-5A final. The Raiders (15-5) rolled past Key West 9-0 on Tuesday. — Erin Herbert
ST. THOMAS 11,
SPANISH RIVER 1: At full strength, Spanish River might have given St. Thomas Aquinas more of a fight.
But with senior pitcher Liz Gollin injuring her throwing hand in an offthe-field incident before Tuesday's Region 4-8A semifinal, the Raiders took advantage.
St. Thomas walked 16 times and earned an 11-1 run-rule victory in five innings on Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale.
The Raiders (21-9), led by pitcher Gabriella Nori, who struck out six in a complete game, will visit Cooper City in Friday’s regional championship game. STA is looking to advance to the state final four for the fifth consecutive season. — David Furones