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You couldn’t have drawn it up any better: the Florida Class 8A state championship Friday night featured the top two teams in the nation per the latest Extra Elite Eighty high school rankings: #1 Lakewood Ranch out of Bradenton versus #2 Winter Springs.
The title game had more on the line than just a state winner–the national champion would be crowned–and in one of the most impressive pitching performances of the year, junior Aynslie Furbush of Winter Springs gave up only one last-inning hit and walk while striking out four to shut out the prolific Lakewood Ranch offense 3-0 in the contest held Friday evening at Historic Dodgetown in Vero Beach.
The win capped an undefeated season for the Bears (31-0) who will be ranked #1 for the year in the final Extra Elite Eighty ratings.
Lakewood Ranch had been #1 for the second half of the season after pre-season #1 Norco (California) lost April 11 and had scored in double-figures in every playoff game this season, winning by scores of 16-0, 11-1, 11-0, 10-0, 12-0 and 12-2 prior to the title game.
But their bats were silenced by Furbush, who faced the minimum number of batters until the seventh inning when junior catcher McKenzie Clark (Clemson commit) tripled with one out and junior first baseman Avery Goelz (Florida verbal) walked.
Furbush, an Ole Miss commit, then shut the door as she induced a pop-up in foul ground caught by junior third baseman Kennedi Gaton and a game-ending fly out to centerfielder senior Kaley Mudge (Florida State signee)
Here’s the final out of a masterful pitching performance by Winter Springs junior Anyslie Furbush pic.twitter.com/PWB1kpUket
— J.C. Carnahan (@JCCarnz) May 24, 2019
“I am so excited about our win today!” Furbush told Extra Inning Softball shortly after the final out was made. “Going undefeated is so difficult to do and, as a pitcher, I am so proud of my defense. Today everything was in sync: the pitch calling, my catcher working with framing the ball, and me hitting my spots. I’m so proud for this team.”
The Bears scored all of their runs in the top of the 4th inning. Gaton—who went 3-for-4—and Taylor Thomas singled and senior outfielder Destiny Colgate tripled to drive in two and effectively put the game out of reach for Furbush who had the game of her life.
“Winter Springs had a great approach at the plate and they took advantage of our mistakes and put some pressure on us,” Lakewood Ranch coach T.J. Goelz told the Orlando Sentinel after the loss, “but the biggest tip of the hat goes to Aynslie Furbush. She was magnificent. She threw her changeup for strikes and once you do that you get us to slow our bats a little bit and get us a little less comfortable in the box.”
The chance to win it all almost didn’t happen for Winter Springs, which had to rally in the Thursday semi-finals to beat Oakleaf (Oakpark, Florida) 7-6 on a two-out single by senior pitcher/infielder Brianna Driscoll.
Still, the first state tournament appearance by Winter Springs in eight years proved to be one of destiny as Furbush and her Bears teammates can now say they were part of an undefeated national championship team.
🥎 FINAL@ws_softball 3@LakewoodRanchSB 0
2019 #FHSAA Class 8A Softball Championship Game pic.twitter.com/JIHfKuM2nv
— FHSAA (@FHSAA) May 24, 2019