This past weekend, some of the best teams in the state of Florida met at the Gulliver HS Slamfest in Miami. In the final of the Gray Bracket American Heritage (15-0) faced Palm Beach Gardens in an epic battle with Heritage coming out on the winning end of an 8 inning 1-0 contest. These two teams face off again this weekend at American Heritage HS.        

The History
American Heritage HS coached by Marty Cooper is one of the top teams in the state of Florida and probably the country. Currently at 15-0 and having won their brackets at the early season Speedball Tournament and last weekend’s Gulliver Slamfest.
American Heritage has won the Class 3A State Title the last 2 years. Lead by sophomore pitching stand-out Aimee Chapdelaine (2009 pitcher of the year) and outstanding hitter Bailey Castro (verbally committed to UF), Heritage has their eye on the prize and that is another state title. Assistant coach Wayne Lenoff said “you are only as good as your last game – and until that last game is a win at states – we are not concerned about our record”. Heritage has a rich history of great players including current UF pitching standout Stephanie Brombacher.

Palm Beach Gardens HS and their head coach Randy Jackson have a history of success. Gardens has won FL State 6A Titles in 2005 and 2006 and runner-ups in 2008. They have won their district the last 7 years. Lead by their top of the order hitters Brittany Ewing (SS – committed to Villanova) and leadoff hitter Haley Fleming (2b – committed to Colgate).  Coach Jackson says he is happy with how his team is coming together and played very well this past weekend. He feels to change the result from last weekend, his pitchers need to get ahead and his defense needs to make the plays and timely hitting is a must.

This is a great showdown, featuring two outstanding teams. We may be seeing two future state championship teams here.