Eustis beats
Wauchula Hardee to reach the Class 5A softball state title game.
VERO BEACH — Eustis was put in an unusual position in its Class 5A softball state tournament semifinal game on Friday.
The Panthers, who rarely trailed throughout the season, had to rally twice while overcoming several errors to pull out a 9-5 win over Wauchula Hardee at Historic Dodgertown.
Eustis (26-1), ranked No. 1 in the Sentinel Super Six, advances to this morning’s state championship game at Historic Dodgertown against Coral Springs Charter (29-1) at 10:05.
“Defensively that was by far the worst we’ve played,” Eustis coach Brittany Beall said. “We just weren’t expecting the ball.
“And offensively we left so many people on base. But when we had to put the ball on the bat as far as having runners in scoring position, we did have some clutch hits.”
Eustis committed four errors and stranded 10 on base. But seven players combined for 13 hits to extend the Panthers’ winning streak to 24 in a row.
Lexi Rodriguez finished 3-for-4 with a double and one run scored. Leah Hanks, Tori Rodebaugh, Graelyn Crawford and Katie Johnson reached safely on two hits apiece.
“I knew we just had to keep our energy up and keep our intensity up and never give in to them leading,” Rodebaugh said. “Eustis has never been this far and it’s something to really be excited about.”
Eustis tied the game 2-2 on a pair of errors in the third before junior Seriah Brokenborough singled to the gap in left field to plate two more runs.
“It really pushed us and motivated us more to really come back and show them that we’re not just some dingy team from Eustis, we’re something big and something special,” Brokenborough said of the early deficit. “I was just thinking about putting the ball in play and moving the runners and helping my team.”
The Panthers would have to respond once more after a triple by Makayla Benavidez and a throwing error helped Hardee reclaim a 5-4 advantage in the fifth.
A single by Hanks and three Hardee errors led to two Eustis runs in the sixth.
Hardee scored all five of its runs while facing two outs. But the Wildcats finished the game with 10 errors, including five over the final two innings.
“We came into states expecting a good game, so we knew it wasn’t going to be a blowout and that we were going to have to play hard, like we’ve been playing all year,” said junior Jaycie Michael, who reached the 2A semifinals last season with Mount Dora Christian Academy.