Softball: Centennial tops Jupiter in 10

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Kristina Conger struck out 10 and had an RBI double as third-ranked Centennial outlasted 10th-ranked Jupiter 5-3 in 10 innings in a District 9-6A softball semifinal Thursday.

Sophomore Katie Konger had her second inside-the-park home run in as many games to give Centennial a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The shot to right center also scored Kadie Maurer.

"(Coach Cheryl East) said to stop, but I thought she said go," Konger said. "But today she said my motivation was so high that no one would stop me."

For the Centennial (20-6) seniors, this is their first trip to the district championship.

"We went into extra innings with Jupiter at the beginning of the year and lost 3-2, and they were determined not to let it happen again," East said. "My seniors said they weren't ready to go home."

Jupiter (19-6) scored in the bottom of the second when Jules Giles' RBI double drove in Cristen Giles.

The Warriors tied the game at 2 in the fifth inning when Jill Shemanski scored on Melanie Oliver's double to center.

In the top of the 10th, Centennial's Blair East, Nicole McHenry, and Rachel Appell all scored on a single, a double and two errors to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead, and they held on to advance to today's final against Palm Beach Gardens.

"Other than a couple of errors, our defense was really solid," said Conger (14-5). "Our defense always has my back."

- Cristina Ledra

No. 4 Palm Beach Gardens 9, Seminole Ridge 0: Laura Mann was 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the top-seeded Gators (22-5) to a rout of the fifth-seeded Hawks (17-9) in District 9-6A.

District 10-6A

No. 1 Park Vista 7, Lake Worth 3: Amber Lyndahl was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI to lead the top-seeded Cobras (24-2) past the second-seeded Trojans (19-9) in the final in Boca Raton.

District 14-5A

No. 5 Dwyer 2, South Fork 0: Logan Wallace pitched a two-hitter, leading the top-seeded Panthers (18-9) over the third-seeded Bulldogs for the district title in Palm Beach Gardens.

District 11-4A

Riverdale 6, Clewiston 1: Deandra Trottie had a hit and scored a run, but the Tigers (12-11) fell to the Raiders in a district semifinal in Fort Myers.

District 13-3A

Cardinal Newman 18, St. Andrew's 0 (5): Coral Love pitched her second consecutive no-hitter, leading the top-seeded Crusaders (21-4) to the rout of the second-seeded Scots (13-4) in the final in West Palm Beach.

District 9-3A

John Carroll 12, Melbourne Central Catholic 2 (5): Taylor Zirwas, Emilee Adkins and Christina Rizzello had two hits apiece to lead the Rams (14-10) to the easy win against the Hustlers in the district final in Melbourne.

District 13-2A

No. 8 American Heritage 3, Glades Day 1: Kaytrina Johnson scored a run and drove in another to help the top-seeded Stallions hold off the third-seeded Gators for the district title in Delray Beach.

District 14-1A

No. 9 Lake Worth Christian 14, Trinity Christian 0 (5): Lauren Even was 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead the top-seeded Defenders (18-6) to the rout of the second-seeded Warriors (5-11) in the district final in Boca Raton.

District 13-1A

Berean Christian 16, Morningside Academy 2: Rachel Terrana was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI, Amber Johnson struck out nine and went 1-for-3 with a triple and Katie Dickerson was 1-for-2 with three RBI as the Bulldogs (9-9) handled the Eagles in the district final in Wellington. Katie Anderson was 1-for-2 with a double for Morningside.