Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Westminster grabs early lead, holds off Oxbridge
VERO BEACH — A rough night on defense cost the Oxbridge Academy ThunderWolves dearly in their Class 4A state semifinal against Westminster Christian Monday night.
Westminster used a bunt, an errant throw and several other ThunderWolves mistakes to carve out a 2-1 victory at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach.
“They have good pitching,” Oxbridge coach Kevin Drake said of Westminster. “They have two seniors. I believe we’re pretty evenly matched. I think we kind of, defensively, gave that game away.”
Oxbridge sophomore Caridad Estes through a strong game, allowing six hits over seven innings while striking out three.
After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the fifth, the ThunderWolves rallied with a double by Estes and an RBI single by Ariel Girardi. But that was all the offense Oxbridge would get in this one.
And after losing to Westminster twice in the past two seasons, ThunderWolves coach Drake was already looking forward to next year with a team that will lose only one senior – Lia Love,
“I believe so, third time’s the charm,” Drake said. “We’ve got a young team. They battled tonight. We played a really good team. I believe they’ll win the state title.
“… I’m really proud of my girls. They have been awesome this year. No one expected us to be here this year.”
Lake Worth Chr. falls, 15-0
Academy at the Lakes, led by superstar pitcher Alexis Kilfoyl’s no-hitter, overwhelmed Lake Worth Christian 15-0 in four innings Monday in a Class 2A state semifinal at Vero Beach.
Lake Worth Christian (10-4) saw only two batters reach base, Angelina Adolphy and Yenice Hayes, both by walk.
Kilfoyl, an Alabama commit, struck out 11 Defenders batters, with only Rebecca Ross putting a ball into play.
Lakes advances to play Aucilla Christian in Tuesday’s 2A state final.