The start of the game was delayed five hours and ended at nearly 1 a.m., but it proved worth the wait for Wellington in capturing the first state softball championship in school history.
Senior pitcher Tori Payne, a UCF signee, turned in a gutty performance in going the distance, allowing five runs and scattering 10 hits as the Wolverines (23-4) defeated Oviedo Hagerty 6-5 in eight innings in the Class 7A state championship in Longwood. Payne (17-2) helped her own cause, going 3 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
“It is such a proud feeling,” said Payne by phone. She threw 147 pitches in the game that was pushed back due to heavy thunderstorms and lightning that swept through the area. “It took all 19 of us and the three coaches, and we’re all exhausted at 1:20 in the morning. I am definitely proud of this squad and all we accomplished this season.
“In the moment, I was trying my best to stay in the moment for my team,” she added of going the distance. “After it is all said and done, it feels like my arm is about to fall off – all for a good cause. This is definitely up there. It’s one of my top games. It’s one that is hard to forget.”
Hagerty (24-7) loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with two outs, but Payne got Alexis Felker to ground out to third to end the threat.
Wellington began the bottom of the eighth with Jess Vera on second base, and she stole third to set up Sam Ellis, who lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in the winning run as the Wolverines ended the year on a 10-game winning streak and won their first state title in four tries. They were runners-up in 2017.
Payne said the team’s 15-0 win over Sarasota in the state semifinals on Friday was beneficial because she only threw 92 pitches in the four-inning affair. It was her fourth shutout in a row, and she hadn’t allowed a run in 26 innings.
“That definitely helped,” she said. “It eased me into this final game.”
It is only the second time this season the Wolverines had allowed five runs in a game. The other time coming in a 5-4, eight-inning loss to Oxbridge Academy on March 19.
Wellington led 4-1 through four innings, before the Huskies battled back to close within 4-3 in the top of the fifth on a two-out, two-run single by Addison Bell. Payne had a run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-3, but yielded two runs in the top of the seventh, the second coming on an error.
Wellington coach Mark Boretti said it was a roller coaster of emotions. The FHSAA initially indicated the game would be played Sunday morning at 9.
“Then they told us they were going to start at 8:30 p.m., but there was more rain, and they were going to move it back to Sunday,” Boretti said by phone. “The FHSAA really doesn’t want to play on Sundays, so we moved it back to 10 p.m. We had to change fields at the complex because the field was under water. It was a long, long day for the kids, but I was surprised by their attitude. They were having fun. They did not give in. They hung in there.
“I’ve been doing this for 16 years, and we have been here four times,” Boretti added. “It’s still hard to believe, but it’s a great feeling. Tori didn’t have her best stuff tonight, but she battled. That’s what she does.”
Hagerty advanced to the final with a 4-3 win over defending Class 7A state champion Western in their semifinal.
After giving up two runs in the first and two in the third, the Wildcats clawed back with an RBI single in the fifth by Katarina Kuma, and two more in the sixth on a two-run double by Analie Diaz.
Western senior pitcher and Florida SouthWestern State College signee Ali Solo (18-4) went six innings, scattered five hits, walked five, and struck out six. Only two of the four runs were earned.
“Anytime you have an Ali Solo,” Western coach John Bradshaw said by phone. “You always have a chance to win. We came up short today, and sometimes that happens in these big games. We waited a little too long to start putting some hits together and fell short.”
Western graduated six seniors, including five starters from last year’s state championship team.
“I am super proud of them,” Bradshaw added. “It is a very young team, and a lot of people counted us out and didn’t give us credit for being able to get back, but we used it as motivation, and we got here. It’s bittersweet. We didn’t get the job done, so we’ve got to go back to the chalkboard and work a little harder and try to get back next season.”
Fort Walton Beach edges American Heritage in 4A final
Fort Walton Beach stunned the state’s top-ranked 4A softball team on a controversial finish as they edged American Heritage 7-6, and its bid for a ninth state championship.
With Fort Walton Beach (23-8) clinging to a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the seventh, the Patriots (23-3) threatened to tie the contest when Bella Benton singled to left.
One out later, Ari Reynolds hit a grounder to the shortstop, whose throw to second was in time, but the throw to first was off the mark. The umpires converged and it was ruled that Benton had interfered with the shortstop and called Reynolds out on runner interference, giving the Vikings their ninth consecutive win and first state championship.
“That’s a tough pill to swallow for the final out of a championship game,” said American Heritage coach Sam Banister, whose team was bidding for its first title since 2018. “It is what it is. I am so proud of my girls. No one thought we would get here, but we did. We are going to be coming for it next year. This won’t happen again.”
The game see-sawed as American Heritage, who entered on a 12-game winning streak, jumped out to an early lead only to have the Vikings battle back to tie the game and go ahead 5-3. The Patriots tied it in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Mia West who came around to score on an error.
In the top of the sixth, Fort Walton Beach’s Anna Abernathy reached on an error and wound up scoring on an RBI single by Rilyn Douglas. A ground out by Anna Beyhl gave the Vikings the lead for good at 7-5. The Patriots got one back in their half of the inning on an RBI single by Kylie Diaz to pull within 7-6.
St. Thomas Aquinas tripped up in 5A semi
Niceville (22-6), the state’s top-ranked 5A team, won its 12th straight game behind a dominating pitching performance by sophomore Chloe Bailey and took out St. Thomas Aquinas 7-2 in the semifinal.
Bailey, who was handed a 4-0 lead in the third, pitched a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts and allowed two unearned runs.
The Raiders cut the lead to 4-1 in the fifth when Jessica Sacca scored on Summer Givens’ sacrifice fly, and trimmed it to 4-2 after Victoria Brunette, who led the team with two hits, scored on an error. Niceville iced the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Niceville went on to lose the championship 4-3 to Winter Springs.
St. Thomas Aquinas (16-13) hadn’t been to the state Final Four since 2017. The Raiders graduate three seniors, but key starters in Brunette, Christina D’Agostino and Givens.
“I thought their pitcher did a nice job of locating her balls today and keeping our hitters off balance,” said Raiders coach Bryan Baucum by phone. The Raiders played five teams this season who reached the state final four (Western, American Heritage, Winter Springs, Hagerty and Niceville). “We tried to go a little short game and that was successful as we got a couple of runners on and they scored.
“They were a really good hitting team,” he added. “They kept finding the holes. I think defensively, we played fine. They came up with some clutch, two-out hits.”
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