How ECS fought through adversity for state title three-peat chance

This week, the Evangelical Christian School softball team will seek a rare state championship three-peat, but the Sentinels have already overcome plenty just to get the opportunity.

ECS earned a fifth consecutive Final Four appearance after defeating Northside Christian 14-4 in the Class 1A-Region 3 title game last week.

The Sentinels will face Geneva in a rematch of last year's state championship game on Tuesday, May 19, at 6 p.m. at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood.

"We’re going to go out there, and we know that we’re going to have the bull's-eye on our back, going there to try to win three in a row," head coach Johnny Manetta said. "But we’re going to take it one game at a time."

Facing one of the hardest schedules in Class 1A, the Sentinels have experienced more adversity than in seasons past. ECS finished the regular season with a 12-8 record — those eight losses were more than the last two seasons combined.

The team had to find answers at two key positions unexpectedly during the season.

An injury to senior catcher Taylor Davison required a new player to hold it down behind home plate, and that was sophomore Gracie Gaff.

"We kicked around a few things, and ultimately Gracie stepped up," Manetta said. "Gracie was not coming into the season thinking that she was going to have to lead the charge, but she stepped up to the challenge. And were there some bumps in the road early? Yeah, absolutely, but she kept working. She kept showing up every day, understanding that her best softball was ahead of her and the only way she was going to do that was by working hard, and she did."

It played out similarly for the team's pitching. In early March, the team began giving innings to seventh grader Cozette Turnbaugh. She is who the coaching staff is trusting to start playoff games.

"It always starts in practice," Manetta said. "You see them grinding in practice and doing all the right things, and she has such a great demeanor for a 13-year-old seventh grader. She wants the ball. She’s a very quiet kid. She’s not going to come out and say, 'Give me the ball,' but everyone knows that she wants to go out there and compete, and we’re going to give her the opportunity to, and hopefully everything works out for us."

Against Northside Christian, Turnbaugh gave up four hits and three runs in the first inning. However, for the next four innings, she gave up one hit and one run.

Turnbaugh didn't walk any batters, and she has only issued 11 walks all season.

For ECS, it helps to have experienced upperclassmen to balance out the youth on the roster.

"I think they’ve come really far," ECS senior Keaunna Green said. "I think just us playing behind them, us telling them to breathe. It’s just a game at the end of the day. We play for each other and at the end of the day we play for God, and that’s all it’s about."

Because of the sudden changes, the Sentinels have relied on their offense more than ever this season.

The top of the team's batting order — Green at leadoff, followed by juniors Anayeli Guzman-Garcia and Karsyn Mootz — have put up astonishing production.

"Leadership — they’re our most experienced players," Manetta said. "We count on them tremendously to be the spark, light the way, and everybody follows. They follow their energy. It’s incredible how it trickles down to the younger players. When they set the tempo, it trickles down to everybody. We have some middle school kids in the lineup, and they look up to them, and they want to be just as good as them in the future. And the legacy that the top of our order is going to leave is going to build the future for the next generation."

Each with an on-base percentage over 60 percent, Green, Guzman-Garcia and Mootz have perfected table setting for the Sentinels.

The trio has combined to score 136 of the team's 218 runs this season.

Green ranks top five in the state in multiple categories, including runs (56) and stolen bases (44). Her .671 batting average is a top-25 figure and leads the Sentinels.

"I’ve been playing this whole season just trying to do what I need to do for my team," Green said.

Green is also versatile on defense — in the past she's played shortstop and center field, but is now playing third base.

"You just want to do right by her because she has done nothing except for what I’ve asked her to do," Manetta said. "She’s played multiple positions all over the field. ... She’s just said, 'Wherever you need me, coach.' She just sets a good example for everybody else, and when your best players set the best examples, it leads to special things. We always try to be very selfless here. It’s not about us. That’s why you’ll never see me with names on the back of jerseys because it’s about the logo on the front."

The Sentinels are plenty familiar with their next opponent. The Knights put up an incredible fight in last year's state title game, and ECS needed a record-setting offensive day to down them 17-14 in a topsy-turvy affair.

No matter the opponent, the Sentinels' philosophy will remain unchanged.

"Mindset going forward is the mindset we’ve had all year – make the routine plays, hit the ball, score runs, get on base," Green said. "And we’re just going to continue to do that the whole way through until we get the trophy."

Despite the challenges this season, ECS has a coach in Manetta, who has seen it all in the sport, to guide them through it all.

Manetta has led two Fort Myers High School teams to state championships and added two more trophies the past two seasons with ECS.

"The way I look at it — if you do things the right way, if you practice hard, if you teach softball the way it’s supposed to be played and the kids buy into what you are selling them, you can accomplish a lot of things," he said. "Between here and Fort Myers before this, I pride myself on teaching the game the way it should be played, and if you do those things, kids will want to come to your program. I’m excited about the fact that we have been to the Final Four five times a row and we’ve put together a program that kids want to come to."

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: FHSAA Softball: ECS seeks third straight state title