On a diamond, they sparkle

Nine years ago, Lakewood Ranch junior outfielder Denali Schappacher was engaged in two important activities.

She spent hours at the Miss Manatee Softball Complex at Lakewood Ranch High, trading softball tips with her teammates.

The other involved going home to catch up on the latest episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants."

One of the two remains very important to her.

Schappacher continues to put in hard work on the red clay infield where she laid down her first bunt as an 8-year-old. It's the same field where she developed into a college prospect.

That first year of softball, Schappacher started playing in a recreational league with current Lakewood Ranch High School students Maddie Biggs, Kyra Klarkowski, Kinsey Goelz and Kaylee Misiti and Braden River’s Bethaney Keen, Kylie Toler and Myah Moy. 

The eight girls joined together on the same team when they were 10, the Suncoast Storm, and now are competing for much higher stakes as they perform for the Tampa Mustangs 18U traveling team. The Mustangs won a 16U title at the Premier Girls Fastpitch National Softball Championship in Huntington Beach, Calif., in August, and finished as a national runner-up in the two previous seasons.

Even more important, they all have earned college scholarships. Keen (South Florida), Biggs (Palm Beach Atlantic), Toler (East Tennessee State) and Klarkowski (Central Florida) are seniors who have signed scholarship offers. Schappacher (Palm Beach Atlantic),  Goelz (South Florida), Moy (Rutgers) and Misiti (Central Florida) have made verbal commitments.

Over the past nine years, the girls have continued to move up the ranks together until they carved out a national reputation.

They won their first ASA State title in 2010 at the 12U level. At that point, the girls realized they could be something special. 

Traveling to more premier events, they eventually qualified for a national tournament in every age group from 12U to 18U. 

“Pretty special indeed,” said current Mustangs coach T.J. Goelz. 

Although they had vastly different personalities, they developed into a cohesive unit on the field.

Jealousy simply isn’t a part of their vocabulary. 

“Communication, I think, is the biggest difference between our team and other teams,” Schappacher said. “We’ve been together for so long that we know each other's limits and we know how each other plays.” 

Over the years, their conversations have shifted from Nickelodeon cartoons to Justin Bieber’s latest track to future careers and life goals. 

No matter where the conversation may lead or where they plan to end up, the girls are continually reminded of what’s driven them for the past nine years, one another. 

“We’ve loved each other all of our lives,” Misiti said. "But we like to roast each other to motivate each other.”

They can be insulting, or some might say, comically critical. 

“We’re a lot like sisters, so for me winning a national championship together was really cool,” Kinsey Goelz said. “All of the other teams are thrown together and here were are just a team from Bradenton, Fla., who have known each other throughout the years. It’s pretty cool.” 

Following their national championship, the girls returned to the field this fall for their first season as an 18U team and won four titles, including Florida’s Finest, Rising Stars, Xtreme Dimensions and the USA Elite Select Region 1 Qualifier. 

When faced with an optional practice earlier this month, all 13 of the girls showed up.

“They love the game and they love being a nationally-known team,” T.J. Goelz said. “They are all high achievers on and off the field and talking with them gives me a great sense of their preparedness for life in general. They are strong, confident, disciplined and kind-hearted young women who will be successful at whatever they put their minds to.” 

The Mustangs will celebrate their national championship with a three-day cruise to the Bahamas Jan. 1 through Jan. 4. 

In January 2013, T.J. Goelz promised the girls he would take them on a cruise if they won a national title. Two years later, the girls are preparing to shed their cleats and batting gloves for bathing suits and bottles of sunscreen. 

T.J. Goelz never really thought the promise would turn into reality, but he couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. 

“These girls work hard and play hard, so it should be a really great time,” T.J. Goelz said. “Something tells me that the girls always knew it would happen.”