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Godfrey’s Pitching, Winning Hit Leads Coral Springs Charter to 3A State Semifinals
Coral Springs Charter senior pitcher Brianna Godfrey pitched a tw0-hitter with 15 strikeouts and had the game winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over Somerset Silver Palms in a Class 3A regional final on Monday.
Godfrey’s Pitching, Winning Hit Leads Coral Springs Charter to 3A State Semifinals
By Dave Brousseau
BCAA Writer
CORAL SPRINGS – Brianna Godfrey has been the anchor for the Coral Springs Charter softball team for much of her seven seasons with the Panthers.
Then the Senior pitcher and Marshall University signee proved why she has been so valuable when her team needed her most.
With no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Godfrey dropped in a base hit to left field allowing Emily Barnell to race home from second for the winning run giving the Panthers a 2-1 victory over Somerset Academy Silver Palms in a Class 3A regional final on Monday at Betti Stradling Park.
Godfrey (19-3) allowed two hits over seven innings with 15 strikeouts to earn the win. She struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning with the score tied at 1-1.
“I knew that was going to be my last at bat on this field,” said Godfrey. “Our team got it going in the last inning and all I had to do was put the ball in play and we would score.
My stuff was working well today. I came out here to win and I was trusting my stuff. This win was amazing and we’re going back to state.”
She’ll enter the state tournament with 232 strikeouts.
Coral Springs Charter (23-3) advances to the state tournament at Legends Way Ball Fields in Clermont for a semifinal game on Wednesday. The Panthers will attempt to win their sixth state championship in eight years,
They had won a state tying record five titles from 2015-19.
“Their pitcher brought her A-game today,” said Coral Springs Charter coach Mark Montimurro. “We kind of reverted back to early season hitting, but we put some pressure on them late in the game and if we pushed we could produce some runs.
Brianna pitched wonderfully. To have her after seven high school years, in her last home game have the game winning hit was special.”
The Stallions (21-4) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Taylor Rabhan scored from third on a stolen base attempt. She appeared to be tagged out on the attempt, but the ball was dropped by Panther’s catcher Stephane Basso.
Rabhan reached first on a walk, then stole a pair of bases leaving her in scoring position.
Coral Springs Charter had a great chance to take a lead in the bottom of the third inning with the bases loaded but were unable to produce any runs as Kaitlyn Maston struck out to end the threat.
The Panthers batters were corralled for much of the game as Somerset pitcher Edan Playa held them to three harmless singles through five innings. She finished the game with 11 strikeouts and no earned runs.
Charter finally got the break they desperately needed in the bottom of the sixth inning when Alivia Taibi, who was running for Basso, scored from third on a throwing error tying the score at one.
“We’re young and we came in here knowing we were going to have our hands full,” said Somerset coach Gator Rebhan. “They have a great pitcher. Keeping this game within one run was a huge accomplishment for our girls.”
The victory was the 11th consecutive for the Panthers after losing in BCAA Big 8 tournament to Cooper City. During stretch they’ve outscored their opponents 122-1.