It’s crunch time in the Florida high school softball playoffs and there are definitely some interesting storylines that will take place Saturday in championship action.  There were two big games that took place Friday night involving nationally ranked teams… here’s a recap of how one team advanced and another lost for the first time this season…

 

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In Class 7A, two of the top 10 teams in the FAB 50 national rankings – No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale and No. 9 Harmony – will meet after battling last year in a thrilling 1-0 nine inning Aquinas win.

Not coincidentally, the two teams are led by All-American pitching candidates in Meghan King (Maryland signee) for STA and Lele Ocasio (Florida) for Harmony.

King pushed her record to 19-2 on Friday as she shut down Tate 5-0. The Raiders scored in the second on a two-out triple by Taylor Hishon and an RBI single by Victoria Stock but it was a close game until Aquinas put up two more in the fourth to open the lead.

King scattered five hits over seven innings and has allowed only one earned run in the playoffs and only five runs all season.

Aquinas will be going for its fourth state championship when it takes the field at 4:35 pm EST.

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In Class 5A action, Ponte Vegra was undefeated and ranked No. 6 in the FAB 50 rankings but facing a team in American Heritage that, despite its six losses, has also won five state titles and one in the past two years.

Friday, the team used to winning showed that sometimes that playoff experience matters as American Heritage won 4-0 to end the Sharks’ season with a 28-1 record.

The Patriots, led by Coach Marty Cooper who is also one of the top club coaches in the country and runs the Gold Coast Hurricane organization, used an aggressive base-running attack and it worked, forcing four Ponte Vedra throwing errors which led to all four American Heritage runs.

Heritage also benefited from a great pitching performance from junior Jenna Goodrich who allowed only one hit while striking out eight.

The Patriots will face Belleview at 7:05 pm EST Saturday.

Both 7A and 5A games will be at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.