West Orange softball wins 2nd straight title
Lauren Mathis struck out 13 batters and Lexie Blair scored the game’s only run on this date three years ago as West Orange became the area’s first high school softball program to wrap up back-to-back state championships.
The Warriors (28-3) held off Palm Harbor University (30-3) for a 1-0 win in the FHSAA Class 9A state championship game on May 20, 2017 at Dodgertown in Vero Beach.
Mathis, who allowed just four hits in her final high school outing, registered the win after escaping the bottom of the seventh inning. University loaded the bases with one out. Warriors’ senior shortstop Amanda Fleming ended the game by catching a hard-hit line drive.
“I was a little concerned with bases loaded, but I had to keep calm,” Mathis said afterward. “That was my main mentality the whole entire game, to keep pitching and know that my defense was behind me. I couldn’t have asked for a better last game.”
Blair, a junior that year, hit a triple to right field to lead off the sixth inning. She scored two batters later when Morgan Arcia popped out to the right side.
“I just wanted to get the ball rolling and a big inning started, and I knew Morgan was going to get her job done,” said Blair. “When I crossed the plate I started tearing up in the dugout. I was just so filled with joy because this is my last game playing with [the seniors], and it’s so meaningful being able to step off the field as back-to-back state champions.”
Mathis was in her junior season at the University of Georgia this spring before the coronavirus pandemic canceled college sports.
Blair, a sophomore outfielder at Michigan, was named Orlando Sentinel softball player of the year in 2017. She helped West Orange return to the state championship game for the third year in a row as a senior. That season ended with a 7-0 loss to Davie Western.
The 2017 West Orange team joined Palm Beach Gardens as the only schools in state history to repeat as champions in the largest fastpitch classification. Gardens won consecutive championships twice — in 2005 and 2006 and again in 2010 and 2011 — when the top classification was 6A.
Naples High won state titles in 1989 and 1990 during an era of limited participation in Florida. The FHSAA began hosting fastpitch softball championships in 1988. Orange County Public Schools adopted the sport at the varsity level in 1991.