Western softball team takes another frustrating loss at state vs. familiar foe
Western High’s softball team waited a year for another shot at a state championship.
And the Wildcats likely figured the last team standing in their way would be Oviedo Hagerty, the team that ended their season a year earlier.
After dueling for six innings on Wednesday afternoon, one play decided the outcome of their rematch.
Unfortunately for Western, it left the field with a familiar deflated feeling after losing again to the Huskies, 2-0, in the Class 7A state championship game at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood.
With two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Hagerty sophomore Campbell Downing lined a pitch from Western ace Cheyanne Chaffin down the left field line. Wildcats junior left fielder Gia O’Connell made a diving attempt to catch it, but the ball bounced off the tip of her glove, allowing both runners to score.
“We battled well and I’m super proud of them,” Western coach Johnny Bradshaw said. “Sometimes it bounces your way and sometimes, but bounces the other way. (Hagerty) had their girls prepared and they earned it.”
Top-seeded Hagerty (27-4), which suffered its own heartbreaking loss in last year’s final against Wellington after eliminating Western in the semifinals, won its first state title since 2018 and second overall.
The Wildcats (24-5), who were making their third state final four appearance in a row, were unable to mount a comeback in the seventh as Hagerty freshman starter Bella Ortiz wrapped up a two-hitter.
Coming off a shutout in the state semifinals on Tuesday against Clermont East Ridge, Western ace Cheyanne Chaffin struck out three, walked one and allowed four hits over six innings. Chaffin looked like she was ready to post back-to-back shutouts until running into trouble in the sixth.
Hagerty freshman Mattingly Klein opened the inning with a single to left. After a failed sacrifice bunt attempt by Nikki Thompson, Klein reached second when Chaffin hit Alina Gallagher with a pitch. This set up Downing’s eventual game-winning hit.
“They earned it and she had to pull the ball in play,” Bradshaw said. “We didn’t come up with it today. Cheyanne did her job. I preach to them to do your jobs. She succeeded and went above and beyond. At the end of the day, you don’t make a play and sometimes, it costs the game.”
Western had its own chance to break the scoreless stalemate in the top of the sixth when sophomore Katarina Kuma hit a grounder that went through Klein’s legs at shortstop and into left center. After a sacrifice bunt moved Kuma to second, senior Hanna Turner singled but not deep enough to score Kuma, who was held at third.
Ortiz then retired O’Connell on a ground out to end the inning.
Turner had both of Western’s hits and is one of eight seniors, who formed the core of the Wildcats’ run to three consecutive state tournaments, including a state championship in 2024.
“It’s bittersweet for them, but at the end of the day, it’s what we sign up for and if you’re lucky to move on, they start all over again. They become freshmen again, and they’re prepared for the next level,” Bradshaw said. “For the majority of those eight I had them all four years so to see them grow and move on, I’m super proud and I know they will go and do great things.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 4:07 PM.
