State softball: Father-daughter coaches have special bond at Cornerstone
Dan and Danielle Lobozzo, as head coach and assistant coach for the Cornerstone Charter School softball program, have the perfect connection.
The father and daughter duo take their special bond into the FHSAA state softball semifinals this week at Boombah Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, where six Orlando-area teams - Hagerty, East Ridge, Winter Springs, Eustis, Cornerstone and Geneva School - will try to advance to the championship games.
The Lobozzos have been coaching together since 2018. Prior to that, Danielle played for her father at Cornerstone. She went on to play at State College of Florida before injuries ended her career.
Six Orlando-area softball teams in FHSAA state semifinals most since 2018
“It’s unbelievable. I kind of feel like we’re doing something right, because if we were doing it wrong, she wouldn’t want to be anywhere near me,” said Dan Lobozzo, 59, who has been head coach at Cornerstone for 14 years. His daughter joined him in the dugout straight out of college in 2018.
“I’ve coached her since she was eight years old, so we’ve been doing it for 22 years together, and without her, I don’t know if I’d still be coaching. We think a lot alike. She’s a little firmer. I’m a little nicer. When it comes to managing the team and making decisions, she’s as much the head coach as I am.”
Cornerstone (22-5) plays Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. against North Bay Haven of Panama City. The Ducks are led by a pair of standout pitchers in eighth-grader Izzy Choquette (10-1) and junior Emma Pynes (8-2). Choquette has 121 strikeouts, and Pynes has 114. Pynes, who has committed to play at Tennessee, is also the leading hitter at .518 with 31 RBI, 10 doubles, five triples and eight home runs. Catcher Bella Smith, another eighth-grader, hits .427 with 32 RBI, 14 doubles and five homers.
Lobozzo said the key for Cornerstone, which has been to the state final four three times in the school’s 15-year existence, is that players start playing together in sixth grade. Cornerstone, the tiny school located in Belle Isle, which is about five miles south of downtown Orlando on Orange Avenue, was a state runner-up in 2018.
“We start them off young. Our JV program is more of a middle school program, and a lot of our girls wind up playing softball for us for seven or eight years,” Lobozzo said. “They buy into the culture a lot sooner, and it’s more of a family kind of thing. They all have ownership and have been around so long that they want to play for the team and look forward to it.
“I would never coach at another school. I absolutely love it. It’s special to watch the girls go from little kids to grown adults.”
Lobozzo likes the Ducks’ chances this week, but says it will come down to the mindset of his players when it’s game time.
“It just depends on what happens with 14- to 18-year-old girls and how they react at that time,” Lobozzo said. “The talent is there. Focus is the thing. It’s how they show up. Do they show up ready to go? There is gonna be emotions.
“Just like the last two games we played. They were exciting. There were some highs and lows, and they reacted really well. It’s the same thing. It’s how they show up and are ready to go, but they seem very focused.”
Opening day
Hagerty and East Ridge, the two highest-ranked Class 7A teams still alive, open this week’s tournament with back-to-back semifinal games Tuesday morning.
Second-ranked Hagerty topped No. 1 Lake Brantley 1-0 in an epic region final with Bella Ortiz pitching a one-hitter with nine strikeouts. Alina Gallaher’s solo home run made the distance.
Geneva School plays a 1A semifinal Tuesday night against Evangelical Christian of Fort Myers. The Knights are even younger than Cornerstone, with a lineup stacked with middle-schoolers.
Geneva’s top hitters are eighth-grader Jazlyn Rodriguez (.536 batting average, 28 RBI, six home runs); seventh-grader Addison Bono (.491, 29 RBI, five HRs); and eighth-grader Avery Brown (.450, 17 RBI). The Knights’ top pitcher is eighth-grader Dallas Esperas (1.48 earned run average).
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.
FHSAA state championships
(At Boombah Soldiers Creek Park, Longwood)
CLASS 7A
Tuesday Semifinals
No. 1 Hagerty (25-4) vs. No. 4 Jupiter (22-3), 10 a.m.
No. 2 East Ridge (27-2) vs. No. 3 Western (23-5), 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday Championship, 1 p.m.
CLASS 6A
Friday Semifinals
No. 1 Pace (25-4) vs. No. 4 Parrish Community (18-5-1), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Doral Academy (26-2) vs. No. 3 Bartow (27-3), 2:30 p.m.
Saturday Championship, 4 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Friday Semifinals
No. 1 Niceville (23-7) vs. No. 4 Braden River (23-3), 10 a.m.
No. 2 Winter Springs (22-6) vs. No. 3 Pembroke Pines Charter (21-8), 11:30 a.m.
Saturday Championship, 1 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Thursday Semifinals
No. 1 Columbia (27-3) vs. No. 4 Seminole (19-8), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Lake Wales (24-6) vs. No. 3 Key West (17-9), 2:30 p.m.
Saturday Championship, 10 a.m.
CLASS 3A
Thursday Semifinals
No. 1 Coral Springs Charter (21-4) vs. No. 4 McKeel Academy (17-5), 10 a.m.
No. 2 Wakulla (25-4) vs. No. 3 Eustis (21-6), 11:30 a.m.
Friday Championship, 5 p.m.
CLASS 2A
Wednesday Semifinals
No. 1 Calvary Christian (22-4) vs. No. 4 Oxbridge Academy (22-3), 10 a.m.
No. 2 North Bay Haven Academy (21-5) vs. No. 3 Cornerstone (22-5), 11:30 a.m.
Thursday Championship, 5 p.m.
CLASS 1A
Tuesday Semifinals
No. 1 University Christian (19-4) vs. No. 4 Schoolhouse Prep (16-11), 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 Geneva School (15-4) vs. No. 3 Evangelical Christian (16-8), 6 p.m.
Wednesday Championship, 7 p.m.
RURAL CLASS
Tuesday Semifinals
No. 1 Trenton (23-3) vs. No. 4 Madison County (19-3), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Northview (20-5) vs. Liberty County (23-5), 3 p.m.
Wednesday Championship, 4 p.m.
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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 1:06 PM.