Wahlbrink leads Coral Springs Charter over Western and a repeat BCAA Big 8 softball title

For the fourth time in six appearances playing in the BCAA Big 8 softball championship game, the Coral Springs Charter team once again proved itself the best.

Freshman pitcher Courtney Wahlbrink proved she’s among the best at her position, going seven innings allowing four hits with nine strikeouts and a single earned run to lead the Panthers to a 10-3 victory over Western on Thursday at Pompano Beach Community Park.

Through the three games pitched in the tournament she allowed seven hits, one earned run with 26 strikeouts over 20 innings. For her dominating performance, Wahlbrink (21-3), was named the Big 8 Most Valuable Player.

“We really didn’t want to rely on her this bad,” said Coral Springs Charter coach Mark Montimurro of Wahlbrink, “but Western can really hit the ball and some of our other pitchers were banged up.”

“Western has big hitters and can see the ball well,” Wahlbrink said. “I worked on spotting the ball in the zone and I had my team on my back. My screw ball was working and had the lefties chasing the ball.”

Charter (22-3), winner of 15 straight games, pounded out 10 hits, including two-run homer by senior outfielder Kate Maston and a three-run shot in the bottom the fourth inning by sophomore Gio Gurgel for a 9-3 lead.

“I was looking for something good,“ Gurgel said. “I swung as hard as I could against something I liked ad I just went with it.”

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Addi Michel scored from second on an error.

Michel had a stellar game for the Panthers going 4-for-4 with two stolen bases and four runs scored, including the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“I definitely felt I was seeing the ball well,” Michel said. “It was big competition between the two teams, and I was just trying to touch the ball. After we pulled through at the end last year against Western and this year we jumped on them very well. We took this game very seriously and just wanted to win.”

Western (20-4-1) tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the second on a two-out RBI double by Kennedy Butter.

Charter broke the game open in the bottom of the third inning with four runs on three hits and an error.

Maston’s two-run homer broke the game wide open with a 6-1 lead. It was her second home run this season.

A Panthers error in the top of the fourth inning helped push two runs across the plate that helped Western cut into the lead at 6-3.

As many top teams do, Coral Springs Charter had an answer.

That came in the bottom of the fourth inning as Gurgel smacked a 2-0 pitch for a three-run home run over the centerfield fence for a 9-3 lead. That homer chased Wildcats starting pitcher Al Solo out of the game and was replaced by Emma Mosher.

The Panthers will next set their sights on the District 14-3A tournament at Betti Stradling Park where they could likely face Cardinal Gibbons in the final.

This story was originally published April 26, 2024 at 8:17 AM.