FULL STORY: Storm teams win state titles

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Thirteen-year-old Denali Schappacher couldn’t stop smiling.

As the pressure mounted all around her, the SunCoast Storm ’98 center fielder stepped into the batter’s box and waited.

With one swift swing of the bat, Denali sent the ball sailing over the shortstop’s head and into center field. It wasn’t until she was well on her way to second base that Denali realized the game had already been won.
Denali’s game-winning hit helped propel the Storm to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Havoc to the championship game of the North Florida State Championship July 8, in Lake City.

“It was really exciting.” Denali said. “In all of the confusion, I was still running for two even though the run already scored.”

The Storm went 6-1 throughout the tournament, which featured 20 teams from across the state. The team advanced to the winners’ bracket final where it defeated the Inferno 4-2 in extra innings. Maddie Biggs notched a two-run double with two outs to help the Storm advance to the finals.

After falling to the Florida Havoc 4-2, the Storm rallied back, defeating the Havoc in a must-win game to capture its second state championship and 11th tournament title of the season.

“It means that you aren’t done, but you did really good,” Denali said. “We still have one more step to go.”

Myah Moy and Kinsey Goelz hit .538 for the tournament to lead the way offensively for the Storm. Myah Moy hit .529 with eight RBIs, and Jamie Boone and Denali both hit .429.

The Storm followed up its state championship with a third-place finish at the ISA World Series, which was shortened due to rain, July 12 to July 15, in Tennessee. The Storm will return to action Saturday, July 28 through Saturday Aug. 4 in the USSSA Disney World Series.

“I want the team to do really good,” Kinsey said. “We just need to focus on what we’ve been doing in practice and on the field.”

Denali agreed.

“I hope we win,” Denali said. “I just know that if we play well, then we have a really good chance to win if we play like I know we can.”

STORM ’00
Thirteen-year-old Luci Derrick had heard the names of all of the great players who had come before her.

And as she stood peering up in awe at the state championship banners hanging around the softball complex, the SunCoast Storm ’00 catcher couldn’t help but feel as if that was one accomplishment she and her teammates may never experience.

“The state tournament we played in before, we didn’t play that well,” Luci said. “We practiced OK, but nothing outstanding.”

“A couple months ago we were doing well, but we still kept coming up a little short,” coach Ron Petty said. “I asked the girls what they thought it was going to take to (be on) top, and that’s when they decided to start practicing three nights a week. I think that’s been the catalyst that’s driven our success as of late.”

However, it wasn’t until Luci and her teammates were competing in the South Florida “B” State Championship July 6 to July 8, in West Palm Beach, that both Luci and Petty began to believe that a state championship might not be entirely out of the question.

The Storm opened the tournament with a 10-7 victory over Palm Beach Gardens Lady Gators 12 Blue before falling to Royal Palm Beach Youth Softball Association 12U 12-4.

As a result, the Storm landed in the losers’ bracket, where it quickly responded with a 13-3 victory over West Pines Diamond Dusters Black, a 4-0 shutout over Cruisers-Parker and a 9-2 victory over Crush 12U.

The Storm trailed 8-1 in the final inning of its fourth game of the day against Royal Palm Beach and was on the brink of elimination when the girls rallied for seven runs to force extra innings. The Storm walked away with a 10-9 victory.

“It was kind of hard to believe,” Luci said. “After that we felt like nothing was going to stop us and no team was going to get in our way. We’d come so far already to give up in the last inning.”

The team went on to defeat Crusiers-LaBella 8-4 and the Coral Springs Panthers 12U team 10-3.

In the championship game, the Storm once again found itself trailing in the final inning. Down 5-2, the girls rallied to force the game into extra innings before defeating the Coral Springs Panthers 6-5.

“It kind of feels like you’re on top of the world and nobody can stop you,” Luci said. “It shows we have a lot of heart and play as one team.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].