Coral Reef dominates the competition on its way to a repeat GMAC softball championship

So much for seeding.

Watching Thursdays afternoon’s GMAC softball championship game between Coral Reef and American, you would’ve never thought that the Reef was the No. 3 seed and American the top seed.

The Barracudas, thanks to playing a challenging schedule both locally and upstate in which they took their lumps en route to a 14-8 record, completed four days of complete domination in the GMAC tournament.

Following victories over No. 6 Hialeah and No. 2 Hialeah Gardens by a combined 30-0, Coral Reef made easy work of American as well, crushing the Patriots 17-0 in a game that ended after four innings due to the 15-run mercy rule.

That added up to 47-0 over the three games and firmly entrenches the Barracudas as the top 7A team in Miami-Dade County when the district and regional playoffs are held over the next few weeks.

“At the end of the day, we look more towards peaking at the end of the season and we know the only way to do that is to really load up our schedule with tough quality teams throughout the season,” said Reef coach Zach Segal whose team has played the likes of St. Thomas Aquinas, Doral Academy and Florida Christian locally and teams such as Melbourne Eau Gallie, Melbourne, Rockledge, Jensen Beach and Montverde Academy from out of town. “We’ve traveled throughout the state to try to find the best competition we can because that’s the only way you find out how you stack up against the best teams when it really counts.”

The only traveling Coral Reef did on Thursday was the trip to the north end of the county as American, because of its 14-1 record and the fact that strength of schedule is not taken into account to determine seeding, was the host school.

None of it mattered to the Barracudas as they had already plated four runs in the top of the first inning before the Patriots had even recorded the first out.

Leading 6-0 after two innings, Reef put the game into the freezer in the third by sending a dozen batters to the plate and plating eight runs. A 2-RBI double by Aubrey Alonso and a three-run homer over the left-center field fence by Rachel Hawkins were the offensive highlights of the inning.

Alonso dominated on the mound as well. In four innings of work she faced just 13 batters, one over the minimum as American’s Chayla Wright was the only Patriot to reach first base when she hit a slow dribbler down the first base line in the first inning that turned into an infield hit.

“I have a great team behind me, not only in the field but at the plate as well,” said Alonso who certainly did her share, finishing four-for-four with two doubles and 5 RBIs. “Our goal this year is to make it farther than we made it last year (regional final loss to eventual state champion Boca Raton Spanish River) but I honestly think we’re good enough to go all the way and win it all. I’m a senior so this is my last shot and would really like everything to end great.”