Original article by Paul Ivice, Orlando Sentinel
Mount Dora Christian’s bid for a girls softball state championship came to an abrupt halt Wednesday when the Bulldogs ran into a buzz saw named Lexi Kilfoyl and lost 11-0 in the Class 2A state final at the Jackie Robinson Training Center in Vero Beach.
Kilfoyl, a senior for The Academy of the Lakes (19-7), held MDC (26-5) hitless while extending her pitching scoreless streak to 37-1/3 innings. The 2018 Florida Dairy Farmers state player of the year and Alabama signee also led off the game with a home run and rattled the centerfield fence with an RBI double the next inning.
Six of the Wildcats’ seven losses were while Kilfoyl was injured earlier in the season. Her one loss was to Bradenton Lakewood Ranch, which is 29-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally by some going into a Thursday Class 8A semifinal.
The Bulldogs knew what they were up against, but even the preparation to face the hardest-throwing pitcher they’d seen all season wasn’t enough, said coach Josh Swearingen. Kilfoyl has pitched for Team USA in international competition.