Softball: West Orange grinds out 5-1 win at Apopka to stay undefeated in district

APOPKA It may have taken 58 innings, but West Orange softball ace Lauren Mathis finally did surrender her first earned run of the season March 11 against Apopka.

It came by way of a walk, in an at-bat where many in the Warriors' cheering section felt the strike zone got awfully tight.

Of course, what mattered most is that one run is the only run that the host Blue Darters scored Friday night, with West Orange (14-1, 5-0 district) grinding out an important 5-1 victory to remain undefeated in Class 9A, District 3.

For Warriors coach Todd LaNeave, the eventuality that his star pitcher would allow an earned run was not as important as the way the junior ace worked through a number of tense situations — including some frustration with the strike zone — against a rival.

"(Mathis) was able to battle through it — I thought she did a great job," LaNeave said. "I thought she got stronger in those last two innings. ... If you asked her, she would probably say it wasn't one of her better games, but I thought under the circumstances she did a great job of holding it together and getting it done for us."

On the season, Mathis is 11-1 for the Warriors and has 126 strikeouts. She has allowed just five runs over her 62 innings of work, with only the one earned run.

At the plate on Friday, Samantha Golden launched a two-run homer in the top of the third inning while sophomore Lexie Blair scored three times for West Orange. Kalie Romig also had an important insurance RBI for the Warriors in the top of the seventh inning, scoring Morgan Arcia.

"We got the big hit from Samantha Golden and then the rest of the run-production is typical for us," LaNeave said. "Get a runner on, steal or move her over somehow and then come up with a timely hit."

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].