Top-seeded Melbourne captured the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 6A, District 7 softball championship on Thursday night with a 11-0 win over second-seeded Viera in a game that concluded after four-and-a-half innings due to the score differential.
“They’re super coachable,” said Melbourne head coach Chris Cottrill of his team. “They all have that drive to want to get better. Just a coach’s dream to be honest with you. So, they’re a special group and hopefully we can achieve their greatest potential.”
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 25-1 on the season. Viera dropped to 14-11.
Melbourne jumped out early with a three-run first inning that an RBI double by junior Layna Ayala and a play where two run scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Addison Balavender after a subsequent fielding error on the play. The Lady Bulldogs would add a pair of runs in the second inning courtesy of two-out RBI singles from Alessandra Gomez and Balavender.
The offensive barrage reached its peak in the bottom of the fourth inning when Melbourne plated six runs with a two-run double by Ayala, three-run triple by Gomez and an RBI groundout by Balavender accounting for the scoring.
“We really try to preach that compete on every pitch, make every pitch count,” said Melbourne head coach Chris Cottrill. “If we win the majority of the pitches, we’re going to be in a good spot in the seventh inning and these girls have really bought into that. They fight hard every day. They’re making adjustments and I’m excited to see what they’re capable of achieving.”
Balavender, a freshman, was stellar in the circle as well as pitched five shutout innings.
“My riseball was doing really well and my curves were doing really well,” Balavender said.
Thursday’s performance marked the continuation of dominance for Balavender in the circle. She will enter state tournament play with a 16-1 record and .91 earned run average to go along with 176 strikeouts in 116 innings, according to MaxPreps.
“It’s really special,” said Cottrill of Balavender. “We’re blessed here to have her and her defense works hard for her to go to compete when she does get those balls in play and just a blessing to have her with us here.”
In addition to the two doubles, Ayala scored after tripling in the first inning. In all, she added to her already incredible season that sees her currently sporting an amazing .602 batting average to go along with 13 home runs.
“I think at first I took a couple big swings in my at-bat and I just really remembered to stay back, be calm, don’t make it bigger than it is and just make it simple bat to ball.” Ayala said.
Melbourne, which received a bye through the quarterfinal, defeated Davenport 10-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday to advance to Thursday night’s final. Viera defeated (Kissimmee) Osceola by a 4-3 score in the semifinals after also receiving a quarterfinal bye in the five-team tournament.
Thursday’s matchup was a rematch of a regular season contest, also won by Melbourne, by a 15-0 score in four innings.
The FHSAA Class 6A state tournament is slated to begin on May 7.
“We’ve just got to go 1-0 every day,” said Cottrill on competing in the state playoffs. “I mean this was great to be crowned the 6A, District 7 champion but it really means nothing, right? We’ve got to go 1-0 every day and just fight to get the opportunity to play the next game.”