Eustis win Class 4A state championship in softball

CLERMONT — Eustis High School is home to the Panthers.

It's also home to the Class 4A state champions in softball.

Libby Levendoski scattered two hits and struck out 16 to lead Eustis to 5-0 win against Brooksville Hernando Friday in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A state championship game at Legends Way Ball Fields.

Panthers win in semifinals:Eustis advances to softball state finals with 2-0 win against Ridgeview in semifinals

More:Levendoski tosses a no-hitter to lead Eustis to 4A-2 title; MDCA wins 2A-2 title

With the win — Eustis' 20th straight victory —  the Panthers closed out their season with a 27-1 record. Eustis is the second school — the first public-school program — in Lake County to win an FHSAA fastpitch softball state championship.

Mount Dora Christian Academy, then known as Mount Dora Bible, won the Class A title in 1999. 

Eustis got all the offense it would need in the second inning. Jensen Luke and Aubrey Ruby opened the frame with back-to-back singles and advanced to third and second, respectively, on a passed ball. 

Ari Spinnichia then lifted a fly to center that scored Luke with the game's first run. Paris Key followed with a triple to left that scored Ciara Maple, who was running for Ruby.

Back-to-back errors off the bats of Lillie Smith and Ainsley Perdicaris plated Key. Before the inning was out, Perdicaris also scored.

And if that weren't enough, Bella Andujar raced home with final run of the game on a wild pitch in the third inning. 

From there, it was just a matter of Levendoski doing what has become routine for the sophomore. She entered the game having allowed only three in her previous 14 innings and striking 41 in her last 21 innings — a span covering three games — and walked off the field following Friday's finale with 57 strikeouts in her last 28 innings. 

Levendoski allowed just four baserunners in the game. Solaris Genberg, who has committed to Lake-Sumter College over the universities of Central Florida and South Florida, greeted her with a leadoff double, but was stranded at second when Levendoski struck out the next the Leopards.

Hernando also had one baserunner in the fourth inning, the sixth and seventh innings.  

No Leopard reached third base. In fact, Levendoski and the Eustis defense did not allow a runner to reach third base in their last three games.

The last time an opposing runner reached third was in the sixth inning of the Panthers' regional semifinal game against Rockledge, a game which Eustis won 15-2. 

Levendoski struck out three Leopards in an inning on three occasions, including the seventh inning, when she fanned Milla Marshall to secure the state title.

The Panthers finished with seven hits. Ruby — the only player with multiple hits — had three. 

Key and Perdicaris, who had a double in fourth, generated the only extra-base hits for Eustis. 

Ava Braswell started in the circle for Hernando and took the loss. She allowed five hits and five runs — three earned —  while walking one in three innings.

Olivia Townsend finished up for the Leopards and three hits and struck out four.

The win was the second of the season for Eustis against the Leopards. The Panthers knocked off Hernando 7-2 on April 7 in Brooksville.

Eustis entered the game as the No. 1 in the latest MaxPreps Class 4A rankings and Hernando was ranked second. 

Friday's victory marked the second appearance in a softball state title game for Eustis. The Panthers played for the Class 5A championship in 2017, losing 2-1 to Coral Springs Charter at Dodgertown in Vero Beach.

Several players from that team, including shortstop Seriah Brokenborough, pitcher Delaney Heaberlin, catcher Katie Johnson and third baseman Lexi Rodriguez were on hand to celebrate Friday's victory.