The team that sticks together stays undefeated.

After going down 1-0 in the top of the third inning Monday night, the 16-0 Senior Tigers rallied behind each other to defeat the Seminoles 6-1 at Burton Park in the Cape Coral Little League Softball Tournament.

The first run across the plate came after Seminole Amanda Kopale hit a triple to left field scoring Morgan Knodas. Tigers pitcher Dana Ruff limited the damage by forcing two pop-ups.

Not wanting their undefeated season to slip away, the Tigers battled back in the bottom of the third to take the lead. Their team chants, support of one another, and constant encouragement has led to their success on the field this season, according to head coach Rich Santangelo.

“We stress (unity) all the time. You make a mistake, just do better next time,” Santangelo said. “They play together, that is what I like about them.”

The Tigers came out swinging and were all over Seminoles pitcher Darienne Boyden. Lead-off hitter Logan Holler started things off for the Tigers with a double to center field. Jenna Braunstein brought Holler home with a ground ball that was thrown over the first baseman’s head.

“We’ve been there against this team six times this year,” said Santangelo. “I just told them we are still in the ball game, one run isn’t going to kill us.”

Katrissa Rowell reached first on another Seminoles error when an outfielder misjudged a routine fly-out. Taylor Wiles and Lisbett Hernandez followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

Boyden was getting visibly frustrated with her defense, but after a calm-down session with her coach, she struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Boyden did not allow any runs in the fourth. Almost predicting their loss to the undefeated standouts, Boyden’s coaches pulled her in the fifth frame in order to save her for Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals.

Amanda Kopale replaced her on the mound. The Tigers insured their lead with two more runs. Wiles recorded her second RBI of the night with a double to left field and Kady Ennis brought Hernandez home via a groundout to Kopale.

The Seminoles (8-9-1) were down on each other and could not come together to add any more runs, but the tight-knit and focused Tigers came together to score one more run in the sixth after a two-out RBI single by Alexandra Seguin.

The Tigers earned a day of rest, but will return to action at 8 p.m. Wednesday against the winner between the Cardinals and Seminoles.

“We probably will face this team again Wednesday night,” said Santangelo. “It was very important for us to win this game, because I can save my ace pitcher (Ruff) for the (championship game).”



Seminoles 001 000 0 — 1 4 4

Tigers 003 021 x — 6 9 1

2B — Wiles (Tigers), Holler (Tigers) 2, Gahles (Seminoles). 3B — Kopale (Seminoles).