Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Coral Springs Charter poised for Broward-first three-peat
No Broward County high school softball team has ever won three consecutive state titles. That could change Saturday.
Coral Springs Charter, heading back to the Florida Class 5A final four after winning two straight championships, aims to bring home Broward’s first threepeat.
The Panthers (28-1) are one of seven teams representing Broward and Palm Beach County in the state championships in Vero Beach’s Historic Dodgertown, where champions in nine classifications will be crowned this week.
The legacy of, not only a Coral Springs Charter dynasty, but also ace senior pitcher Ally Muraskin, who could go down as the county’s most celebrated pitcher, could be cemented.
“We worked so hard to get this far and we are going to finish it,” said Muraskin, a UCF signee who is on national Player of the Year watch lists with a minuscule 0.29 ERA (six earned runs over 147 innings pitched).
The Panthers, Florida’s top-ranked team throughout the season, faces Walton in a Friday morning semifinal.
“To be able to go back a third time, we have to really savor this and be appreciative of the moment because it doesn’t happen very often,” said coach Mark Montimurro, who in 2005 nearly accomplished the three-peat feat with Hollywood Christian but was on the wrong side of a 1-0 state final.
The Panthers have never played while trailing this season – the one loss was a walk-off in the eighth inning at West Nassau on March 10 .
Oxbridge set for debut
Oxbridge Academy has transformed from a softball afterthought to a powerhouse in just a couple of seasons.
Coach Kevin Drake took over a team that went 6-11 in 2015, made its first playoff appearance last season and now, at 26-2, will debut at state for the first time in Class 4A.
“This year, it’s all come together – last year it started to come together,” Drake said.
The ThunderWolves made their first-round exit last season via a 10-0 drubbing from eventual state champ Bishop Verot. Thanks to a shutout from senior pitcher Lianna Mullins – and her two-run homer in the regional final – they got over the Bishop Verot hump with a 2-0 win.
Mullins is 16-1 with a 1.04 ERA. Freshman Caridad Estes is hitting .528, has bopped 10 homers and driven in 44 runs, leading the team in all three categories. Oxbridge opens states Wednesday against Tampa’s Academy of the Holy Namesl.
Heritage eyes title No. 8
Had a 1-0 state final against Baker County in 2015 gone the other way, American Heritage would already be Broward’s first three-peat champs. The Patriots (24-3) look to make it three out of four and earn their county-best eighth state title, starting with Ponte Vedra in Friday’s 6A semifinals.
In Class 8A, St. Thomas Aquinas (20-9) gets the state’s second-ranked Orange Park in semifinals and Wellington (21-7) will square off against Plant City.
Jupiter (25-3), senior ace Ally Costa at 22-2 with a 0.99 ERA and 224 strikeouts, got to state on a seventh-inning rally capped by Bailey Phillips’ walk-off RBI single against Douglas. It gets no easier for the Warriors, who will play Class 9A No. 2 Palm Harbor University in semifinals.
Glades Day last reached states in 2008, when they fell 1-0 to Wewahatchika. Led by current coach Sherri Paez, the Gators won their only state title in 2004. This time, they get Aucilla Christian in Wednesday’s 2A semifinal.