No revenge for Oxbridge girls
Miami-Westminster Christian ends ThunderWolves’ year at state again.
For the second straight year,
VERO BEACH — Miami-Westminster Christian got the best of Oxbridge Academy in the FHSAA state softball tournament.
The Warriors scored all the runs they needed in the fifth, and held on for a 2-1 victory over the ThunderWolves in a Class 4A state semifinal Monday night at Historic Dodgertown.
Hailey Donovan added a pair of hits for Miami-West
minster Christian, which defeated Oxbridge 4-2 last May for the state championship.
The Warriors (23-7) advanced to play Jacksonville-Trinity Christian for the state title tonight. The ThunderWolves, with just one senior on their roster, finished 21-6.
“We’ve got a young team,” Oxbridge coach Kevin Drake said. “They battled tonight against a really good team. I believe they’ll end up winning the
state tournament. Some- times it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Tonight, they were a little bit tight.”
Westminster Christian nearly broke through in the first, putting a runner on sec- ond with one out after Victoria Perez’s long double to left field.
But a pair of stellar defensive plays — one by Oxbridge right fielder Christian Glenn and the other by catcher Josie Foreman — got the Thunder- Wolves out of the inning.
Foreman followed in Oxbridge’s half of the inning with a two-out single, but was called out on obstruc- tion after interfering with a defensive player while rounding first base.
Both starters pitched well in the early-going, with Perez and ThunderWolves’ lefty Caridad Estes combining to allow four hits and no runs through four innings.
Westminster Christian finally broke through in the fifth with a pair of runs. Brooklyn Maguire brought home Isabella Artiles with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Warriors’ lead, and a passed ball brought home the sec- ond run.
The ThunderWolves got one back in the bottom of the fifth. Estes led off with a double, and scored on Ariel Girardi’s RBI single to center.
Westminster Christian then switched pitchers, bringing in Maguire to replace Perez. The senior left-hander retired the final three batters to preserve the Warriors’ 2-1 lead.
Oxbridge managed one more hit off Maguire over the final two innings, and it wasn’t enough. She retired the final five batters to close out the win.
Perez picked up the win for the Warriors, allowing one earned run on three hits to remain unbeaten at 11-0.