Geneva School’s repeat quest for a softball state championship once again came up short. University Christian of Jacksonville topped the youthful Ducks 4-1 in Wednesday night’s FHSAA Class 1A state final at the Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood.
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University Christian’s senior pitcher Dixie Tessier shut down the prolific Knights offense, which piled up 23 base hits in Tuesday’s wild 16-15 semifinal win against Evangelical Christian. Tessier held Geneva hitless through 3⅔ innings and completed the game, allowing just four hits while striking out five.
“She threw a heck of a game against us. An incredible job,” said Geneva head coach Jared Incinelli. “Those one-game situations are tough because the ball doesn’t bounce your way sometimes.”
Geneva (16-5) had zero seniors and 12 middle schoolers on its 15-girl roster. They were joined by one junior, one sophomore and one freshman.
Geneva’s pitcher, eighth grader Dallas Esperas, overcame a rocky start to keep the state final game within reach. She struck out four and surrendered only five hits, but the offense wasn’t able to back her up this time. University Christian (21-4) scored two runs in the first and third innings.
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The Knights, who scored 71 runs in their previous six playoff games (11.8 per game), showed some life in the sixth when Esperas led off with a single and junior Chloe Incinelli drew a walk. After seventh grader Addison Bono flew out, eighth grader Jazlyn Rodriguez stepped up and ended Tessier’s shutout bid with an RBI double that scored Esperas. But as quickly as momentum seemed to be swinging Geneva’s way, Tessier shut the door with two outs to snuff out the rally.
Alysson Luu, another eighth grader, singled with two outs to keep Geneva’s hopes alive in the seventh inning, but Esperas grounded into the final out.
Rodriguez went 2-for-3 to finish the season with a team-leading .554 batting average. Incinelli said making back-to-back championship games was something to be very proud of.
“I’m so proud of how far our girls have come and what they’ve accomplished this year,” he said, “You’ve got to learn from these experiences and grow from them. It gives you motivation during the offseason to get better and grow in the game that you love.”
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Geneva School outslugs Evangelical in wild FHSAA 1A softball semifinal
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