CLERMONT – A return to an FHSAA softball state championship game ended in disappointment this time around for Winter Springs.
The Bears (22-8) committed two errors and were held to just two hits Saturday afternoon during a 5-0 loss vs. Doral Academy (29-2) in the Class 6A final at Legends Way Ballfields in Clermont.
Winter Springs, undefeated state champs in 2019, loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning on a single by senior Nicole Schricker and a pair of two-out walks, but the Bears popped out to the shortstop to end any chance at a rally.
“I thought if any team could do it, our team could do it,” said Winter Springs first-year head coach Farrah Gordon. “Any girl is capable of getting the job done for us, but overall, they pitched a good game, and that’s what it comes down to. They bring their best and we bring our best, and they just came out on top.”
Doral junior Alyssa Zabala struck out seven batters and allowed three walks to record the win. Anabela Abdullah, a seventh-grader, hit a home run in the first inning to give the Firebirds all they would need.
Doral, which had three middle-school players in the starting lineup, added another run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth before Winter Springs got in position to get on the scoreboard.
Senior Taylor Krapf and freshman McKenzie Cox each drew walks in the sixth after Schricker’s single to the left side of the field. The Bears went down in order in the seventh.
Krapf walked to give Winter Springs its first baserunner of the afternoon in the fourth inning. Sophomore Amber Daugherty singled to right field in the fifth for the team’s first base hit.
Gordon had grown accustomed to seeing different players step up when the team needed a timely hit or big play in the field throughout the postseason. It would not play out that way in the end.
“I’m so proud of every one of them and the way they came together this season,” Gordon said. “It really became more of a family. The biggest thing was them playing together and playing for one another.”
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
