Doral Academy convincingly captures its first state softball championship

Doral Academy junior Alyssa Zabala knew all season she never had to stress in the pitching circle.

Not with the kind of run support the Firebirds lineup often provided.

“In the past, I felt like I always had to shut the other teams down and not give up anything,” Zabala said. “But having that backup, I always feel more secure as a pitcher.”

Zabala still rarely yielded much to her opponents anyway.

On Saturday afternoon, Doral’s formula for success worked to perfection once again and delivered the school’s first state softball title following a dominant 5-0 victory over Winter Springs in the Class 6A championship game at Legends Way Ball Fields in Clermont.

Doral (29-2), which lost its only two games in extra innings and finished the season ranked No. 11 nationally by MaxPreps, won 20 in a row to finish the season. The Bears (22-8) had won a state title in 2019 when the tournament was last played going undefeated.

“Even up five runs, my stress level is still high throughout the game, but once you get that last out, it’s a great feeling,” Doral coach Willie Viruet said. “We’ve been waiting two years to get this opportunity again. Having our high expectations made it difficult, but I don’t think we made it easy for anyone.”

And Doral figures to make it difficult for anyone who plays it for quite some time since most of its hitters are underclassmen or even seventh-graders and eighth-graders.

The Firebirds had seven players record one hit each with seventh-grader and starting shortstop Anabela Abdullah putting them on the board quickly with a solo home run to left field.

“Annie is special,” Viruet said. “I don’t think she’s backed down from anyone. To get that first run for us it helped a lot. With Alyssa, we get one or two runs and we feel good as a defensive and hitting team.”

Eighth-grader Sarah Breaux drove in two runs with a double during a three-run fifth inning which broke the game open. Another eighth-grader, right fielder Isabella Melley, also had a double and an RBI and catcher Amanda Ramirez each had an RBI.

Sophomore Ana Richiez and senior Meghan Neto each also had a double.

Senior Kassandra Machado, who hit her state-leading 17th home run in Friday’s semifinal win over New Port Richey Mitchell, went 1 for 2 as well.

All of that offense made it another comfortable day for Zabala, who threw a two-hitter, striking out seven with three walks on 109 pitches.

“The whole game I knew we were scoring runs and doing a good job, but I was just trying to stay on point,” Zabala said. “Getting that last out felt better than anything.”

Zabala and her teammates had a celebratory dinner planned after the game.

But for a pitcher of her caliber, there is little time to rest.

Zabala said she was heading Sunday to pitch in a travel ball tournament.

Zabala, who is receiving interest from multiple Division-I programs, finished the season 23-2 with a 0.78 ERA and 193 strikeouts.

“Alyssa was on fire,” Viruet said. “It’s fun to sit back and watch her and she does everything with a smile too. Watching her be on point was comfortable. She threw her first strike at the start of the game, and I knew we were going to be OK.”