Westminster Chr. falls short in pursuit of three-peat
Three consecutive state softball championships sounds pretty good. Westminster Christian could have earned the difficult accomplishment done only by eight other teams in state history.
The Warriors will have to wait after falling to Jacksonville Trinity Christian 16-0 in four innings in the Class 4A final at Jackie Robinson Training Complex on Wednesday.
It was Trinity Christian’s first title after losing in three previous attempts at the state tournament. Westminster defeated Trinity in last year’s state final 6-1.
“They really put it on us,” said Westminster Christian coach Scott Doan. “We had no answer for what they did. Congratulations to them, they did a great job.”
It was the worst loss for the Warriors since Doan has been the coach at Westminster.
The Warriors (23-9) had won five championships dating back to 2004 and were hoping to win their third straight on Wednesday. Had they won on Wednesday, they would have become just the ninth team to win three in a row.
The Warriors trailed 2-0 heading in the bottom of the first inning with a chance to erase the deficit. They didn’t, and things got worse from there.
“I think our error in the first inning and our lack of production in the bottom of the lineup kind of changed the whole tempo of the game,” Doan said. “We never caught back up from there.”
Westminster had three hits in the first inning and only one thereafter.
Sophomore Megan McMillian gave the Conquerors a first inning 2-0 lead with two-run single with two outs.
Trinity kept the pressure on its opponent with three more runs in the top of the second inning, putting Westminster in uncommon territory.
Alexia Ross had the big hit in the inning with a two-run single. She was driven home for the 5-0 lead on an RBI double by Amaya Ross.
Bailey Cooley was the winning pitcher for Trinity (20-6) and allowed four hits, while striking out five. Three of those hits came in the first inning when Westminster loaded the bases.
The Warriors looked prime to win a third straight title, having outscored their opponents 103-5 entering state final during eight game winning streak.
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
It will be a busy Thursday in Vero Beach for South Florida softball teams as Classes 9A-5A take the field for their state semifinal contests.
Miami-Dade and Broward have teams competing in four of the five classifications.
Coral Springs Charter gets things started for the area teams with a Class 5A state semifinal against Hernando at 9:50 a.m. Doral Academy, making its first state appearance, then plays Lake Region at 2:50 p.m. in a Class 7A state semifinal.
Cooper City, which plays Lakewood Ranch at 5:20 p.m., is next up in Class 8A. Coral Gables, also making its first state appearance, closes out the night with 7:50 p.m. contest against Newsome in the Class 9A semifinals.