An amazing season in Softball for Seminole County had the cherry added to top off the season recently.
After Winter Springs High School won its second consecutive FHSAA Class 5A State Championship and Hagerty High School won its first-ever FHSAA Class 5A Championship before the home fans at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, all that was left was waiting on the Postseason Honors.
This past week, the Florida Dairy Farmers announced their 2026 Softball awards following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school softball coaches and media representatives.
And while Seminole County did not claim any of the Overall (Miss Florida Softball, Coach of the Year) honors, locals did very well, sweeping the Player and Coach of the Year awards in both Class 5A and Class 7A.
In Class 5A, Farrah Gordon was named the Class 5A Coach of the Year after leading Winter Springs High School to a 24-6 record and its second straight Class 5A State Championship.
Leading the way for the Bears was Junior catcher Lauren Daugherty, who hit .389 for the season, going 36-for-90 at the plate, with 11 doubles and six home runs.
The University of Kentucky commit scored nine runs and drove in 33, drawing nine walks and striking out just 10 rimes.
Bur what may be even more impressive, is that she did not commit and error all season, scoring 130 put outs and handing out six assists. She did not have a single runner all year try to steal.
For her efforts, Daugherty was named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2026 Class 5A Player of the Year.
In Class 7A, Tom Kreahling was named the Class 7A Coach of the Year after leading Hagerty High School to a 27-4 record and the school’s first-ever Softball State Championship.
Freshman shortstop Mattingly Klein who recorded an amazing .500 batting average, going 47-for-94, with eight doubles, a triple and six home runs. She scored 40 runs in the 30 games and also drove in 26 runs, while stealing 13 bases.
She drew six walks and was hit by a pitch twice, while striking out a minuscule six times.
For her efforts, Klein was the named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2026 Class 7A Player of the Year.
Overall, Junior pitcher Hannah DeMarcus of Pace High School was named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2026 Miss Softball after leading her squad to the Class 6A state title with a 20-2 record. She posted an 0.90 ERA while striking out 315 batters in 156 innings pitched. She has committed to play softball at Auburn University.
DeMarcus, who was earlier named Class 6A Player-of-the-Year, won the overall award with nine of the 18 first-place votes and 128 points to finish ahead of Rural Class POY Addison Allaire of Trenton, who had 80 points and Class 3A POY Courtney Wahlbrink of Coral Springs Charter (47). Fourth in the voting was Co-Class 5A POY Chloe Bailey of Niceville (43), followed by Class 7A POY Mattingly Klein of Hagerty (30), Co-Class 5A POY Lauren Daugherty of Winter Springs (29), Class 2A POY Aubrey Vital of Oxbridge Academy (19), Class 4A POY Alannah Lord of Columbia (15) and Class 1A POY Dixie Tessier of University Christian (5).
Joe Saucier of Columbia High School was named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2026 Softball Coach of the Year as in his second year as Columbia’s head coach, Saucier led his squad to a 29-3 record and the Class 4A state title, the school’s first state championship since 2013. In two years at Columbia, Saucier has posted a 44-15 record.
Saucier, who previously was selected the Class 4A Coach-of-the-Year, won the overall award with six of the 18 first-place votes and 100 points, to finish ahead of Class 6A COY Lexi Alexander of Pace, who had five first-place votes and 81 points. Rural Class COY Kevin Benson of Trenton finished third in the voting (55 points), followed by Class 5A COY Farrah Gordon of Winter Springs (48), Class 3A COY Mark Montimurro of Coral Springs Charter (45), Class 7A COY Tom Kreahling of Hagerty (39), Class 2A COY Kevin Drake of Oxbridge Academy (15) and Class 1A COY Keith Stroud of University Christian (10). All eight finalists led their teams to state titles.
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers' commitment to the state's youth. This is the 34th year of these awards honoring the state's top athletes and coaches in FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
