West Orange’s senior class remembers the last time the team was in the state championship game. It was the moment that drove the team forward for so long. The Warriors’ taste of the championship escaped them that time. And the wait would be long to get back.
Finally returning to the state championship, this was not an opportunity that would come easy and not an opportunity the team could pass up.
Pitcher Lauren Mathis carried the load early in the game, striking out 15 batters to give West Orange the leg up. She was perfect through five innings. Eventually the batters would come along for the ride.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, they delivered and helped West Orange win its first softball state championship since 1994 with a 6-0 win over Tampa Alonso on Saturday in Vero Beach at historic Dodgertown.
The Warriors scored three runs in the fifth inning to go up 3-0. From there Mathis simply dominated as Alonso was unable to break through against the pitcher.
“Lauren Mathis, that’s her, she’s been doing that all year,” said West Orange head coach Todd LaNeave to Bright House Sports network. “She gets the ball out there and she’s been incredible.”
Mathis is a junior who committed to Georgia in January and is considered one of the top pitchers in the nation. A good pitcher goes a long way in softball. And that made the Warriors the threat they were in the state tournament.
The Warriors gave up just three hits and were never truly threatened in the game. Allowing West Orange to celebrate after picking up three runs each in the final two innings.
West Orange finally got its state championship after a long time waiting and three trips to the state championship game following its last championship.
Now the hunger for another one begins.
