Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gonzalez, Good lead Pines Charter to title
VERO BEACH — They dumped water on her on the field and in the dugout.
But Pembroke Pines Charter pitcher Eliza Gonzalez wasn’t mad at her teammates.
After all, they had a state championship to celebrate.
“They just threw all the water on me,” Gonzalez said. “But it’s OK. I was refreshed. I’m good now.”
So were the rest of the Jaguars after they beat Niceville 4-1 in the Class7A state softball championship game at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach.
It’s the third state softball championship for Pembroke Pines Charter, the first since 2014.
“It’s very nice for the girls,” Jaguars coach Tom Fadul said. “They’ve been working hard for six months. This is what they’ve been working for.”
Gonzalez allowed just five hits while striking out eight and walking none for Pembroke Pines Charter (26-5).
Left fielder Alexandria Good also had a big day, driving in Erika Andal with the game’s first run and making a huge running catch in left field in the bottom of the seventh that likely saved some runs. Niceville had been able to get two runners on, but couldn’t score.
“She was super clutch this game,” Gonzalez said of Good. “… She was really an all-star this week.”
Andal, Good and Chole Freire had the only three hits of the day for Pembroke Pines Charter. Freire scored twice, Stephanie Gonzalez drove in a run and Andal had an RBI in the fifth inning to give the Jaguars a 4-0 lead.
Niceville got a run in the bottom of the fifth and threatened in the seventh, but the Jaguars were able to shut down both rally attempts and claim the title.
Eliza Gonzalez said she and her teammates were determined to make this the year they would not just get back to the state final four, but win the whole thing.
“That was great,” Eliza Gonzalez said. “It felt like a huge weight just lifted off my shoulders after that last pitch.”