Palm Beach Gardens junior Aaliyah Crews told her teammates they needed to be quiet.
“I was just like, ‘OK, quiet down. I need to focus,'” Crews said.
The silence helped. Crews went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI to help lead the Gators to an 8-3 victory over Spanish River in the Class 7A regional quarterfinals in Palm Beach Gardens on Friday night.
“I’m so proud of these girls and how far we’ve come this season,” Crews said.
Palm Beach Gardens entered the game on a short winning streak, and they started hot on Friday. Senior Brooke Barnard drove in a run with a double, and junior Genesis Duran followed with an RBI double of her own. Crews extended the Gators’ lead to three with a sacrifice fly.
Spanish River clawed back into the game in the fourth inning. Sharks senior Eva Zeidel doubled in a run and came around to score on an errant throw. Spanish River tied the game in the fifth inning on an RBI double by sophomore Bella Santos.
Crews came back around in the bottom half of the inning, giving the Gators the last lead they would need. She drove in Gardens’ fourth run of the night with an RBI double. In the bottom of the sixth, she drove in her third run with a single.
With Crews and sophomore Kelsey Salmon on base, junior Kairi Rodriguez uncorked the biggest swing of the night, driving a pitch over the left-field wall to break the game open. Pitcher Danielle Deaton closed out her complete game in the seventh, allowing two runners on but keeping either from scoring.
“Kairi’s home run, obviously, was a big blast,” Gardens coach Randy Jackson said. “Took the pressure in that last at-bat.”
The Gators face Park Vista in the regional semifinals. The Cobras have won 45 consecutive games — including two wins over Gardens that they won by a combined score of 20-1. Park Vista’s last loss was on April 23, 2019.
“All I have to say for that game is we are going to come to win,” Crews said. “All we need to is make sure our energy is higher than theirs.”
