Wellington edges Jupiter to get back to state softball final four

The Wellington softball team is heading to the state final four for the third time in school history.

The host Wolverines received a strong performance from pitchers Tori Payne and Jordan White
as they held off Jupiter 2-1 in a Class 7A regional final on Saturday.

Wellington (20-2-1) advances to the Class 7A state semifinal for the first time since 2017 and
they will play Plant in Clermont on Friday.

Payne, a sophomore, started and tossed three scoreless innings while allowing four hits and two
walks with two strikeouts. White, a senior captain and Jacksonville University signee, pitched
four innings in relief and allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts.

Wellington coach Mark Boretti called on White in a relief role after she was used as a starter
throughout the season since they played Jupiter for the third time.

“They have seen Jordan a lot,” he said. “They only saw Tori a couple of innings here and there.
The coaches talked to them and they were both for it. [Tori] got through those three innings. She
is a bulldog and she has that tenacity. I got to give Jordan so much credit coming in because she
is usually the starter and for her to switch it up. She went right along with it and she was on.”

Jupiter (19-6) left seven runners on base as well as six runners in scoring position through the
first four innings.

“They are putting pressure on us and they’re the ones having people on base and having
opportunities every inning,” Boretti said. “We got to do something and we did a couple of times
and we scored enough. Pitching and defense win championships.”

The Wolverines opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore catcher Kaylee Riles
had a leadoff double down the right field line. Sophomore first baseman Erryn Lowe delivered a one-out, RBI single into center to score Riles.

The Wolverines pushed across another run in the bottom of the fifth. Junior third baseman
Angelina Mangini had a leadoff single and reached third base with one out. Senior left fielder
Kaitlyn Campbell reached on a fielding error as Mangini scored on the play.

Jupiter senior pitcher Amanda Lieberman, who registered three hits, had a two-out, RBI single to
left-center in the seventh to cut the deficit to 2-1. White recorded a flyball out to left to close the
game.
“It means a lot,” White said. “I think this team definitely has a lot of talent. If we have a chance
of winning states at all, it would be with this team. I did not put too much pressure on myself. I
wanted to go to states and I left everything out there. I am super excited.”

Campbell, a team captain, had a strong performance on defense and made the final catch of the
contest.

“I just give it all I got,” she said. “We play so well together and we all have fun. We play as a
team. It really just works in our favor.”

Senior second baseman Kylie McCann, a team captain, reflected on the Wolverines winning
their fifth regional final in school history. Wellington defeated Jupiter 6-5 in the two previous
meetings this season.

“We knew we had to come out with the same intensity we had before and we knew we had the
game,” McCann said.

Lieberman pitched six innings and allowed two runs on six hits while issuing four walks with
three strikeouts.

In the top of the first inning, Payne induced a pop out and recorded a strikeout to strand runners
at second and third. The Warriors also failed to score with runners at second and third and two
outs in the second. Payne escaped the jam and retired the side on a lineout to left field. Payne
stepped up again in the third inning and induced a groundout to third base with runners at the
corners. White induced a groundball to second base to stand a runner at second in the fourth.
Wellington junior centerfielder Kelsie Riggan recorded two hits and a walk to lead the
Wolverines offense.

Wellington had cruised past Palm Beach Central 11-1 in the regional quarterfinal.  Lowe hit a
two-run home run to lift the Wolverines to a 2-0 victory against Centennial in the regional
semifinal.

Jupiter rolled past Harmony 12-4 in the regional quarterfinal and they defeated Boone 7-6 in the
regional semifinal.