LONGWOOD, Fla. – The redemption arc is complete for the Hagerty High School softball team, winning the Class 7A state championship 2-0 over Western High School Wednesday.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, sophomore catcher Campbell Downing hit a two-run double deep to left field. Hagerty only had four hits in the game, so the two-run RBI double was a premium and secured the title.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Downing said after the game. “I just went up there, and I swung and hoped for the best...I knew what (Western’s pitcher) was going to pitch me; I knew what was going to happen. I really just knew I had to hit the ball the opposite way, and I just did it.”
Freshman pitcher Bella Ortiz outlasted Western’s pitcher Cheyanne Chaffin, recording five strikeouts, including a strikeout to end the game. Ortiz didn’t give up a run in the regional championship, state semifinal and state championship.
“I feel this pressure relieved off of my back that I can trust my team,” Ortiz said. “That’s how it’s been all season.”
The Huskies were the state runner-up last year but used that disappointment to finish out their quest for the title, the school’s first since 2018.
“Neither team flinched,” Hagerty head coach Tom Kreahling said. “It was just execution which is what you love from a championship game. Both teams played their hearts out.”
Hagerty, fueled by young talent, can send off the seniors happy and soak in the winner’s moment.
“Coming through in that moment and getting the championship trophy, it just feels surreal and insane,” Hagerty shortstop Mattingly Klein said.