WELLINGTON — Jupiter softball turned the tables against top-seeded Wellington Tuesday night, defeating the Wolverines 2-0 to advance to Friday’s regional final against Centennial.
Last year, Wellington (20-4) handed Jupiter (14-7) two one-run losses — one in the regular season and the other in the regional finals to advance to the final four.
On Tuesday, Jupiter’s Sasha Seidel pitched a complete-game shutout, rendering an elite Wolverines offense dazed and confused by her curveball.
It's a pitch she's stuck with from the beginning, working with head coach Steve Ahern to enhance her pitching repertoire early in her high school career.
“In the beginning of the season, it was one of my worst pitches, and now it’s probably one of my best pitches,” Seidel said.
Bases Loaded: Your fan guide to Palm Beach County high school softball
Defeating Wellington and advancing to the regional finals is a pretty clear reminder that hard work definitely pays off.
“It feels great,” Seidel said. “We’ve been working towards it at practice. I couldn’t have done it without my team behind me. We’ve lost to them the last couple of years and it’s always been by one run, so it feels great. It was tough but I just had to stay in the moment and focus on my pitches.”
Across seven innings, Seidel tallied five strikeouts, allowing just three hits and walking two batters.
“The biggest thing is being relaxed out there,” Ahern said. “I think she’s relaxing. I think she’s believing. One of the biggest things that we teach is, ‘Throw the ball and not think where it’s going to go, just throw the ball and know where it’s going to be,’ and I think she’s really embracing that.”
When Seidel stepped into the batter’s box herself, the sophomore had a pair of hits and a run scored — the first run of the night, which came after some smart base-running positioned her at second base.
She crossed home plate easily on a monster double by fellow sophomore Sam Basen, whose line drive careened off the left-center-field wall, just a few feet shy of clearing the ballpark.
“Overall, seeing my teammates happy really got me going,” Seidel said. “It was a great experience to feel with the team just looking at Sam. It felt nice.”
Though dominant pitching was the main story of Tuesday’s game, the Warriors were aided by some uncharacteristic mistakes from Wellington.
The Wellington infield committed three errors, all in the final two innings.
Ultimately, everything, small and large, played a role in Jupiter changing the narrative in the semifinals game, and Ahern can relax knowing that his team was the one that played cleaner and executed more effectively in big moments.
“We’ve lost a lot of one-run games and things have always seemed to slip in their direction,” Ahern said. “It was really good to get one to come our way.”
Jupiter will play against Centennial on Friday at 7 p.m. for the regional championship.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Playoff softball: Jupiter takes down Wellington behind Sasha Seidel's complete-game gem
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