Fab four setting eyes on returning to state
Jupiter, Wellington, Oxbridge, Glades Day look to repeat.
Palm Beach County was well-represented at the state softball championships in Vero Beach last spring. Four area teams — Jupiter, Wellington, Oxbridge Academy and Glades Day — advanced to the state semififinals at Historic Dodgertown, while the Wolverines and ThunderWolves made the state title game in Classes 8A and 4A, respectively.
As the 2018 season gets
underway, all four teams have high hopes to repeat last season’s accomplishments.
Jupiter, which made it to the Class 9A state semififinals before falling 1-0 to Palm Harbor University, lost two-time Palm Beach Post Player of the Year Ally Costa to graduation, plus a pair of clutch hitters in infifielders Bailey Phillips and Rachel Frankhouser. Yet, the Warriors return a strong group of seniors, with catcher Ashley Goebel, third baseman Megan McCants and left fifielder Shelby Russo leading the way.
Replacing Costa on the mound will be a pair of sophomores — Marisa Mellone
and Madi Leonard — and their development will be key this season, coach Steve Ahern said.
Glades Day has a more veteran group returning from a team that fifinished 12-14 and advanced to the Class 2A state semififinals. The Gators return six starters, including senior pitcher Jaylin Smith (an All-Area fifirst- teamer last season), junior fifirst baseman Emilee Perkins (.313 batting average) and sophomore catcher Olivia Esquivel (.297).
Glades Day also has a pair of talented newcomers in outfielders Kennedy Derouchers and Allison Deaton.
“We hope to return this year to the state fifinal four,” coach Sherri Paez said. “We have two key positions to
fifill, but hopefully with our 24-game schedule, we will work out all the kinks.”
Wellington and Oxbridge Academy each lose a couple of key players from last season, but have the bulk of their starting lineups returning. For the Wolverines, who l ost to nationally ranked Orange Park-Oakleaf 6-1 in
the Class 8A state title game, junior shortstop Sarah Long
ley, senior third baseman Bailey Cain and pitchers Kate Desimone and Katie Schmidt are back. And for the ThunderWolves, who fell 4-2 to Miami-Westminster Christian in the Class 4A state championship game, hard-hitting pitcher/ fifirst baseman Caridad Estes, catcher Josie Foreman, infifielder Madalynn Davis and outfifielder Christian Glenn return.
Oxbridge also added junior outfifielder Ariel Girardi from Dwyer and freshman pitcher/ outfifielder Jena Whipple from American Heritage, while former Palm Beach Gardens pitcher Dani Farley joins the Wolverines.