Pembroke Pines Charter wins softball semifinal against Doral Academy

A repeat of last year’s stunning loss wasn’t about to happen this go around.

Pembroke Pines Charter added two insurance runs in the bottom of the third to make sure there was no comeback as the Jaguars defeated Doral Academy 3-0 in a Region 4-7A softball semifinal at Silver Lakes Park South on Tuesday.

The Jaguars (23-7) will play at the South Fork/West Boca Raton winner in the regional final Friday. Pines Charter improved to 11-4 all-time in regional semifinal games.

Junior right-hand pitcher Eliza Gonzalez (11-4) tossed a complete-game five-hitter with 11 strikeouts to lead Pines Charter. It was the Jaguars 13th shutout of the season.

“I felt I did my part by throwing first pitch strikes, working around the count and making them chase balls,” Gonzalez said. “We wanted this. We wanted the revenge in this game and we got it.”

Doral scored an unearned run in the seventh inning to defeat Pines Charter 5-4 in last year’s regional semifinal.

“It was all about getting the timely hit,” Pines Charter coach Tom Fadul said. “[Gonzalez] threw well tonight. She got ahead early and worked around the batters. I didn’t have to say word to our players about least year. They knew.”

Leading 1-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Pines Charter added a pair of insurance runs to secure the victory.

Maegan Calandra singled with two outs, and Angelina Pascual drove her in with an RBI double. The throw from the outfield went into the Jaguars dugout and Pascual scored on the error for the final run.

Doral (19-8) threatened in the top of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out. Gonzalez struck out Laila Garcia for the second out and Pines Charter ended the threat when Mikaela Roig was thrown out at first trying to get back to the bag.

In the bottom of the fourth with the score tied at 0-0, Pine Charter had a chance to score with two on and no outs, but failed to drive any runs home. The Jaguars finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fifth.

Senior left-fielder Alexandria Good hit a single to drive home Malarie Busha for the winniing score.

Cassandra Machado (8-5) took the loss, allowing 10 hits, while striking out four.

Dave Brousseau

▪ Coral Reef 11, Palmetto 7: Coral Reef came out on top after a shootout with Palmetto in the region 4-9A semifinals at Palmetto Bay Park. Palmetto was 4-0 against Coral Reef this season coming into Tuesdays’ game.

“I had never hit two home runs in a game before, but I knew my teammates had my back,” Ana Hernandez said. Hernandez hit two solo home runs for the Barracudas.

Katie Burge hit a lead-off home run for Palmetto in the first. Two more runs followed and the Panthers (26-5) led 3-2 after one.

Hernandez hit a lead-off home run for Coral Reef to start the second and tie it at 3.

Coral Reef (18-11) got another lead-off home run in the third. Janelle Boyd hit a routine single, but throwing errors at first and second allowed her to run home.

Hernandez hit her second solo home run in the fifth. Katerina Boix scored two Barracuda runs with a double. Coral Reef scored five runs in the fifth and led 11-5. April Bonwit had a solo home run for Palmetto in the fifth. It was the fourth lead-off home run of the game.

Brianna Romaguera entered the game in the second to relieve Coral Reef starting pitcher Kira Boyer. Romaguera only allowed one run in the final two innings. Olivia Rapp had the only Palmetto run in the final two innings off a solo home run.

Coral Reef will face Coral Gables in the region final Friday at 7 p.m.

Darren Collette

This story was originally published May 8, 2018 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Pembroke Pines Charter wins softball semifinal against Doral Academy."