OKLAHOMA CITY— It was a magical season for the top-ranked Florida Gators, one that seemed destined to end no other way than with a championship trophy in hand at the end of a long road that had them back in the Women’s College World Series for the second straight year.
But this fairy tale did not come with a happy ending.
The Gators made it one step further than they had just last year by finishing second after falling to Washington, 3-2, Tuesday night in game two of the Women’s College World Series Championship Round. The Gators ended their season 63-5, not what they dreamed of when they came to Oklahoma City but a great season just the same.
While the Gators didn’t accomplish their mission to win a national title, they can at least take solace that they went down fighting. Five more feet and Francesca Enea’s double of the left field wall in the top of the seventh inning ties the game. A hit here or a walk there in earlier innings would have produced runs but the Gators just couldn’t come through in the clutch after taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
This just wasn’t meant to be.
“I’m very proud,” Florida coach Tim Walton said. “I can go home tonight and feel very good about the way we played softball today. We gave it everything we got. Nobody went down without a fight, all the way down to our last at-bat. I’m very proud of that.”
In two previous meetings against Washington ace Danielle Lawrie, Coach Tim Walton watched his team mowed down by the junior from Canada. In game one of the championship series Monday night, the Gators managed only two hits and five base runners in an 8-0 defeat that was the low point of the season.
Walton attacked Lawrie with a different strategy Tuesday night, this time opting to play small ball to put pressure on Washington’s defense just as the Huskies had done to the Gators the night before. He even stacked his lineup so each hitter that stepped up was batting from a different side of the plate.
The strategy was very effective as the Gators were threatening to score all night long, but they were doomed by their inability to capitalize in several clutch situations.
“There’s a reason (Lawrie) was the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament,” Walton said. “She’s probably the best pitcher in the country and one of the best pitchers in the world. You’ve got to take advantage of opportunities that you get. I don’t know if it was just me or my imagination with it being dark out there, but it seemed like every time we got somebody on base, she revved it up another gear. In the last two innings, she probably revved it up two more gears and I’m going to give her all the credit.”
The game started off on a good note for Florida when Aja Paculba emphatically showed the power of speed and small ball when she jumped out of the gate with a leadoff triple to the gap in right center field. She came home one pitch later when Lawrie cut loose with a wild pitch that rolled all the way to the backstop.
The lightning quick start jolted the Gators and ensured there would be no hangover from Monday night’s 8-0 loss to the Huskies. Kristina Hilberth, back in the two-spot of the lineup, and Francesca Enea both reached on singles off a fielder’s glove, giving Florida runners on first and second with one out. A double-steal moved the runners up a base and left a base open for Kelsey Bruder, who loaded the sacks when she patiently waited Lawrie out for a walk. Megan Bush hit a deep sacrifice fly that brought home another run, but the threat ended abruptly when Ali Gardner’s sharp liner was caught and turned into a bang-bang double play.
Florida made a first inning statement, but a 2-0 lead just wouldn’t hold up. Although the Gators had plenty of chances to push runs home throughout the game, they never scored again against Lawrie.
Washington came firing right back in its half of the first as Ashley Charters and Kimi Pohlman started off the inning with singles. After a Jennifer Salling strikeout, Lawrie helped her own cause with an RBI-single and the Gators found themselves on the wrong side of a wild pitch of their own, allowing Washington to tie the game at 2-2.
Florida ace Stacey Nelson, making her last stand in Orange and Blue, induced the next two batters into groundouts and the inning was over.
Nelson (41-5, 0.61 ERA) allowed three runs (two earned) in the game and struck out five batters while allowing six hits and one walk. It wasn’t the performance she had in mind in her last game, but a player’s greatness is not measured on one game alone.
“No. 42 won’t be back for us next year,” Walton said. “We’ll feel that. Not only a great pitcher, but she’s also one of the most outstanding people you will ever meet. I’m just proud. I’ve told her this already, but there won’t be another No. 42 worn at softball as long as I’m coach there. She’s just meant that much to our program. We would not be here the last two years without this young lady.”
Nelson retired the batters in order in the bottom of the second and Lawrie followed suit after giving up a Hilberth single, but Florida’s defensive woes reared their ugly head once again.
After a groundout, Michelle Moultrie dropped a routine fly ball that lined right to her, opening the door for Washington. Salling and Lawrie followed with consecutive doubles to load the bases for the Huskies. Nelson was able to get Morgan Stuart to hit a soft come back grounder but with the runner sprinting home from third, she took her eyes off the ball. That slight bobble allowed Washington to take a 3-2 lead and that was all Lawrie needed to bring Washington its first NCAA softball championship.
The Gators responded to Washington taking the lead with a threat of their own. Gardiner singled up the middle and moved to second on a Corrie Brooks sacrifice bunt. Pinch-runner Danyell Hines rounded third on a Michelle Moultrie single and appeared to have enough runway to make a clean landing at home to tie the game at three, but Walton held her up and she returned to third on the throw home. The decision proved costly for Florida as Kim Waleszonia struck out and Paculba was unable to beat out the throw to first, leaving both runners stranded.
After Nelson kept the Huskies at bay in the fourth, Walton continued to use the small-ball approach. After a Hilberth single over the third baseman’s head, power-hitter Francesca Enea laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Hilberth over. Bruder hit a hard liner off the third baseman’s glove that gave Florida runners on first and second but after a Bush pop up and a Gardiner walk that loaded the bags, Corrie Brooks went down looking to end yet another Florida scoring opportunity.
Even with all those missed opportunities, the Gators were still in good shape as Nelson kept the Huskies from scoring again. Unfortunately, Lawrie was equal to the task. Although the Gators threatened again, Lawrie found just the right pitch at just the right moment to keep the Gators at bay.
It was the last game for a core group of seniors that will never be forgotten. Along with Nelson, the Gators will be losing stalwarts Hilberth, Gardiner and Waleszonia. The Gators may never see players like them again, but they did lay the foundation for a great future.
“You don’t ever replace players,” Walton said. “Especially the ones we’ve got walking out the door … not only is there their ability on the field, but there is their character.
“I think the program itself will move forward. Hopefully we’ll be able to get enough good character in there and enough good players that will continue to build the program.”
It may not be time to look forward after such a bittersweet ending, but the seniors have nothing to regret as they look back on their time as a member of Gators’ softball.
“Losing sucks,” Nelson said. “Especially on this stage. The agony of the final loss. The things you learn playing the game, you take for the rest of your life. I’m not going to remember — well I will remember that we came in second — but what I’m going to remember is the 20 great girls I had on my team. Playing with them for four years. Building the best relationships I’ve ever had. Playing for a coach like Tim Walton. There is a lot of pain that comes with this loss, but I’m always going to remember my time at Florida as the best time of my life.”
With the players on this team and the run that they put together, they may not have won a championship, but there is no doubt of this team’s greatness.
“What a great team I have,” Walton said. “This will go down as one of the best teams in softball without winning a championship, of course. But this is a great team and 132 wins and 10 defeats in two seasons is tremendous—one of the best two-year runs you will ever see.”
That consolation may not be as good as winning a national championship, but this team will have a place in the hearts of Gator fans for a long time.
And nothing can take that away.