- December 22, 2024
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After seven straight innings of two pitchers dialing it up from the circle, Windermere High’s Lexi King and Steinbrenner High’s Lily Patton, the Class 7A, Region 2 championship game was heading to extra innings.
As the visiting team, Steinbrenner was up to bat first in the top of the eighth — and with the international tie-breaker rule in place, a runner was placed on second base. By the time Windermere managed to get three outs, Warriors sophomore baserunner Jenna Fortenberry scored the first run of the game.
You’d think after that many at-bats without a run and only a few hits to their name, the Wolverines would have feared that a single Steinbrenner run would end their magical season.
Well, you’d be wrong.
“If I told you that I was afraid, I’d be lying,” said Windermere softball coach Eileen Hannigan.
Neither Hannigan nor her team were scared, because they practice for this type of chaos.
“In practice, we do a drill called ‘chaos,’ and yesterday, we did that drill and practiced going to ITB,” Hannigan said. “We did this exact scenario, we had the girls lose the lead in the top of the eighth inning, and we practiced two innings of ITB. When this game got to that point, I told them, ‘You’re going to win this game, because you’re one of the best teams in the state and you’re ready for this.’ And we were ready for it. In all honesty, it’s hard to believe that we practiced that exact scenario a day before it happened in the game.”
Windermere’s preparation showed.
“We knew that all we had to do was just stay calm and do what we’ve been practicing,” said Windermere pitcher Lexi King. “We’ve practiced for this moment, so we trust our preparation and what we have in each other as a team.”
In the bottom of the eighth, the Wolverines clawed back and tied the game at one run apiece on a score by Windermere senior Carly Bunnell. In the top of the ninth, King and the Wolverine defense shut down Steinbrenner and got out of the inning unscathed.
“I felt really good out there,” King said. “A lot of practice has gone into this. All I was just trying to do was not to let the moment get too big and just stay calm. I trusted coach Hannigan and stayed locked in with Carly the whole time, that really helped me just not overthink anything.”
With the top of the batting order on deck in the bottom of the ninth, Windermere knew this was the moment to pounce and end this game once and for all.
First, to advance the ITB baserunner to third base, sophomore Ariana Lara laid down the sacrifice bunt. Check, baserunner Sabrina Boyer reached third. Now, all Windermere had to do was get Boyer across home plate.
That’s where shortstop Emilie Ching came in.
“I just thought to myself, ‘They pulled in an extra outfielder to the infield, so right field is completely open.’” Ching said. “So my head goes straight to, ‘Hit it to right field however possible and the game’s done.’”
That’s exactly what Ching did. The pitch came, and she belted it to right field. Boyer reached home to seal the walk-off region championship win and a berth in the state semifinals — both firsts in the young program’s history.
“I don’t think there are words to describe what I’m feeling,” Hannigan said. “This is something we’ve talked about and dreamt about and we just get a tremendous amount of leadership from my seniors and juniors. There aren’t enough words. I just love them, and this is the most amazing feeling."
"I don’t think they come better as human beings. They set their mind to achieving this four years ago when they walked on this campus. And today, they go out and do this. Do you get a better effort from Lexi King? And then the defensive stops, they just backed her left and right. When you’re in big-time games and need big-time plays, I know I’ve got a team ready to make big-time plays,” Hannigan added.
Windermere, now 23-4 on the season, will need to top a fellow Central Florida team in the 7A state semifinals, to earn a berth in the championship game: Seminole High.
To get past Seminole and whoever wins the Western High/Jupiter High game, and claim the 7A state title, the Wolverines know what they have to do.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Ching said. “That means just keeping the energy high. We all love each other so much, I think if we just keep playing for each other, we’ll win this thing.”
Their coach agrees and is more than happy to hand her players the keys to the car.
“They have the right mindset, they’re focused and they know what their goals are and what we need to do to accomplish them,” Hannigan said. “I’m lucky to have two amazing assistant coaches, who do nothing but help support these girls, and we’ve all told our players that they’re driving the car. It’s our job to make sure it’s fueled up for the whole trip there. But we have two more to go and we’re ready.”
The first pitch of the 7A semifinal is set to be at 11:15 a.m. Friday, May 24 at PFX Athletics Complex’s Legends Way Ballfields in Clermont.
Sam Albuquerque is the Sports Editor for the Orange Observer. Please contact him with story ideas, results and statistics.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @SamBAlbuquerque
Instagram: @OrangeObserverSam
