Somerset Silver Palms upsets Coral Springs Charter once again to clinch trip to state

Somerset Silver Palms softball coach Gator Rebhan made a bet and lost. And when he officially lost that bet on Friday night, he was never happier.

Rebhan will head for the Legends Way Ballfield in Clermont with his players for a state semifinal contest next week and when he takes the field, he’ll have blue hair.

“Blue hair, blue hair, blue hair” his players shouted gleefully minutes after the final out had been recorded of their 4-2 upset victory over top-ranked Coral Springs Charter in a Region 4-3A final at Betti Stradling Park in Coral Springs.

“We won a close game a few weeks ago where we didn’t play all that well and I told them after the game that I would dye my hair blue if we somehow made it back to state,” Rebhan said. “I usually never make those kinds of bets and this time I thought I had a safe one.”

Rebhan then took off his cap and showed off a fairly bald head.

“Thank goodness I hardly have any hair to dye,” he said smiling.

And Rebhan had plenty to smile about.

Nearly a year to the day that his Stallions team stunned Charter in a 1-0 extra inning thriller in the same round on the same field to punch their first-ever ticket to the state final four, they made the long trip north from Homestead on this day with a much younger team than a year ago and a much bigger underdog.

But nobody bothered to tell Stallions pitcher Ava Stevens, a ninth grader, or catcher Brigitte Valdera that as those two played the biggest role in the Somerset win. Stevens shut down the normally powerful hitting CSC lineup all night until the Panthers, who had won 19 straight games coming in, rallied for two unearned runs in the last of the seventh.

But the tying run never came to the plate because the Stallions (22-6) already enjoyed a 4-0 lead and that was thanks to a huge swing of the bat by Valdera. She came to the plate with two on and two outs in the top of the sixth and, with her team just having broke through with a run to break up a scoreless tie through five innings, got a hold of an inside fastball from Charter pitcher Courtney Wahlbrink and gave it a ride far over the left field fence for a no-doubt-about-it three run homer that proved to be the difference.

“I got a high inside fast ball and just turned on it,” Valdera said. “I knew it was gone when it left the bat. What a big moment and just an amazing feeling when I saw that ball go over the fence. Ava was pitching well so I knew we were in great shape at that point.”

A year after a more experienced team traveled to Clermont as a No. 1 seed, only to come up short, dropping a 3-0 decision to Clearwater Calvary Christian in the championship game, Somerset heads back up there but this time as the No. 4 seed. The Stallions will take on No. 1 seed Montverde Academy, the very same team they defeated in last year’s semifinal, on Tuesday, May 21 at 3 p.m. In fact, the same four teams from 3A last year will be back again. No. 2 Baldwin will take on two-time reigning state champion Clearwater Calvary Christian, the No. 3 seed, in the other semifinal.

Stevens was an outfielder on last year’s team as an eighth grader but with pitcher Eden Playa graduating last season, Stevens stepped up to the mound and has delivered all season long.

“I came into the game last year and watched Eden do it and wanted to show that I could do exactly what she did that night because I see her as my big sister and wanted to show her I could do it as well,” Stevens said. “My mindset tonight? Just stay focused and don’t think about anything but pitching to one batter at a time, get one out at a time and trust my teammates.”

And her teammates came through. In a lineup that had just one senior on the field, Somerset was solid in the field all night, making every play until a one-out throwing error at shortstop sparked a Charter rally in the last inning.

After Wahlbrink reached on that throwing error that put her down at second, Addi Michel grounded out for the second out. But Jessica Sarca doubled off the center field fence, the only real hard hit ball off of Stevens all night, to score a run. Gio Gurgel then stepped up and singled to left. Sarca rounded third and head home to score when the home run hero, Valdera, the team’s catcher made one final great call. “Cut two” she yelled to third baseman Arlene Sordo who cut off the throw home and fired down to second to nail Gurgel who was trying to make it to second, ending the game.

“These girls, they’re just a bunch a fighters, a lot of fight in them,” Rebhan said. “I just tried to keep’em loose. I told them today on our way up here to just relax, go out there and have fun. We were the underdogs and had nothing to lose.”

On the other end, Coral Springs Charter head coach Mark Montimurro, who had a program that was dominating the state not long ago, winning five consecutive state titles from 2015-19, was the picture of frustration, coming up one win short of state to the same team again.

“I don’t know, two years in a row they come up here and do this to us so you have to give them credit,” said Montimurro whose team finished 26-4. “For whatever reason, they’re a tough matchup for us and they put a lot of pressure on us and we didn’t respond. It’s frustrating but our girls had a great season as well so we’ll continued to buld on that.”

MORE SOFTBALL

▪ Region 4-7A final - Western 4, Lake Worth Park Vista 3: Danae Falquez went 2 for 4 with a solo home run to lead the Wildcats (25-4-1) to the state semifinals for the second time in three years. Emma Mosher went 1 for 3 with an RBI and Kennedy Butter had an RBI. Ali Solo pitched all nine innings, allowing two runs on four hits and six walks with one strikeout. Western will take on Jupiter on Friday at 10 a.m. in a state semifinal at Clermont.

▪ Region 4-6A final - Doral Academy 12, St. Thomas Aquinas 1: Sarah Breaux went 3 for 4 with two home runs and five RBI to lead the Firebirds (27-1) to the state semifinals for the fifth consecutive season. Yessenia Lopez went 2 for 3 with two doubles and two RBI and pitched six innings, allowing one run on two hits and three walks while striking out 12. Lauren Ali, Meagan Villazon, Anabela Abdullah and Zoey Abdullah each had two hits. Doral will face either Bartow at 2 p.m. or Valrico Bloomingdale at 4 p.m. on Thursday in Clermont.

▪ Region 4-5A final - Archbishop McCarthy 12, Pembroke Pines Charter 4: The Mavericks mustered 19 hits to advance to their first state final four in program history. McCarthy (16-5) will play Gainesville on Thursday at noon in Clermont in a state semifinal.

▪ Region 4-4A final - American Heritage 3, Jensen Beach 2: Koda Travers struck out 10 and allowed four hits and two walks, but no earned runs while also going 2 for 3 at the plate to lead the Patriots (18-10), who advanced to state for the first time since 2021. Bria Villano went 2 for 3 with a run scored and Analie Diaz went 1 for 3 with two RBI. Mia West also went 1 for 3 and had an RBI. Heritage will try to move closer to a ninth state title for its program and first since 2018 when it faces Glen St. Mary Baker County on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in a state semifinal in Clermont.

▪ Region 4-2A final - Fort Pierce John Carroll 12, Miami Christian 3: The Victors finish the season with an 18-7-1 record.

This story was originally published May 18, 2024 at 1:18 AM.