NFM football team charges ahead

The North Fort Myers Red Knights softball team will play for a state Class 5A softball title Wednesday in Plant City. If they win Wednesday, the state championship game is Thursday. Team members include, kneeling from left, Jessica Petrucci, Jasmine Santiago, Darienne Boyden, Alyssa Dougherty, Kayla Ramey, Katrissa Rowell, Allie Kennedy; back row from left, assistant coach Joe Clark, Lexi Schlotter, Alex Smith, Paige Engh, Mariah Fernandez, Micheala Schlotter, Jackie Owen, Liz Hernandez, assistant coach Jim Schlotter, head coach Jeff Miner. Assistant coach J.D. Miner is not in the photo. Photos of the girls in action this past season are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com. Photo by Michael aPistella
No public school softball team in Lee County has advanced as far in the FHSAA softball tournament as the confident, mentally tough and battle-tested bunch from North Fort Myers. Thier next game is Wednesday night.
The Red Knights (27-3) have broken through, winning the District 5A-15 title, the Region 5A-4 title and, along the way, even toppled east coast nemesis Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Knights now are one of four remaining teams still chasing the Class 5A state title – with Venice, defending champion Bartram Trail and Auburndale.
The Red Knights play their semifinal game against Venice at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Plant City Stadium with a trip to Thursday’s championship game on the line.
“This has been like an adventure,” said North coach Jeff Miner. “It’s been a long journey from the beginning of the year, but just having this opportunity is an honor.”
The ride has been thrilling, full of pressure-packed moments and dramatic finishes. When pushed to the limit, the Red Knights have responded using outstanding pitching and defense, and an uncanny ability to come up with key hits at the most appropriate times.
They exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in a regional finals win over Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer and won tournament games over Fort Myers and Aquinas with the late-inning heroics.
“Under pressure we seem to play our best,” said senior Kayla Ramey, one four team captains. “We just never give up and play until the very last pitch.”
That the Red Knights have risen on the state landscape this season shouldn’t come as a complete shock. The program established a strong foundation in recent years, which included 18 and 19 wins the previous two seasons.
Given their experienced coaching staff and deep corps of talented players, this had the makings of a peak season before it ever began.
In addition to being a close team during the high school season, many of the players belong to the same travel team, the Lee County Rage, which plays summer and fall. They’re coached by J.D. Miner, who is an assistant on the North High staff. Though Red Knights coach Jeff Miner is not involved with that team, the players no doubt maintain some continuity.
Even with those factors, the challenge of building a team capable of competing against the many contenders around the state takes more than one or two years or one or two coaches.
Area high school teams have benefited in recent years from the growth of the Cape Coral Little League Softball program at Burton Park. Nearly the entire Red Knights roster played there, as well as several other top players now spread across area schools like Cape Coral, Mariner and Ida Baker.
“The caliber of players in the same age group was apparent at Burton several years ago and they’re all over now,” said Rob Owen, a former vice president of Cape Softball.
Owen stressed that the primary goal of Little League is to give every kid the opportunity to play, not winning or losing, but said several changes and improvements were made at the park that had an impact on the players’ development.
The league’s commitment to improving the facilities took the help of a lot of people.
“At one point we made 84 changes and improvements,” Owen said. “We put up new batting cages, constructed pitching stations, the changes were done by the board. Nick Sozio and Larry Roderiques supervised those facility changes.”
Cape Softball began to make its mark competitively in the All-Star Tournaments, winning the state championship in the 11-year-old division in 2005 and winning another in the Little League division in 2006, coming one game short of reaching the Little League World Series.
At the high school level, it’s created strong competition during district play, but this season North has been able to take the next step in the postseason.
As current North players reached the high school level, they’ve been guided by a seasoned coaching staff, which includes seventh-year head coach Jeff Miner and assistants J.D. Miner, Jim Schlotter and Joe Clark.
After knocking on the door in recent years, they’ve broken through with strong all-around play and the mental toughness needed to win several big games.
“Our district alone and the type of teams we played prepared us for it,” Miner said.
In softball, having an ace pitcher comes in handy, too. It’s essential for making a long tournament run. Junior Jackie Owen has given the Knights that presence. She’s posted a 23-3 record with 21 complete games and a 0.72 ERA.
Defensively, the Red Knights have been strong at every position and seemingly each player has had to make pivotal plays that may have been the difference between winning and losing.
The offense, which may be the team’s biggest question mark, has shown a flare for the dramatic. It has done enough to win 27 games and LCAC, district and regional titles.
“We’ve been blessed this year to get that one extra run,” said Miner, “or we’ve made that one extra play or made that one special pitch.”