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North takes the hard road to softball finals

It has not been an easy postseason for the North Fort Myers High School softball team.

The Red Knights have faced the best in the region, and there were a few times where not only were their backs against the ropes, but it seemed they were on life support.

And if it weren't for their star catcher, North would have been finished two weeks ago.

But life is a highway (back to that later) and the girls weathered the storms, and on Thursday at 4 p.m. the Red Knights (20-7) will play in the Class 5A state semifinals in Longwood. They will be the No. 3 seed playing against second-seeded Winter Springs.

The winner will play the winner of Niceville and St. Thomas Aquinas in the state finals.

Weathering the storm has been this team's theme throughout the entire postseason, North coach Jeff Miner said Monday as the team prepared for its trip.

"My girls persevere and never quit. They believe they're going to win. When you have that, that's what it's all about," Miner said. "I hope we get nice support from our fans and root for the Red Knights."

Save for one game, North has had to battle in every outing. In the District 5A-11 semifinals, Charlotte gave the Red Knights a tussle, rallying late before North finally slammed the door on a 5-4 win.

In the district finals against Fort Myers, North stumbled. Losing a wild 14-12 slugfest to the Green Wave. While the Red Knights still got the No. 1 seed, its runner-up district finish meant playing on the road in the first round of the Region 5A-3 regionals against eighth-seeded Gaither.

North found itself down 7-5 in the seventh inning and staring elimination in the face. With two on, Mia Lane struck. She hit a three-run home run to give the Red Knights the lead and they held on for an 8-7 win.

"Being down by two and hitting a three-run homer said you can't have any quit. That's what it comes down to," Miner said. "Gaither was a very good team. We didn't have any film on them and we went there cold turkey, rode the bus three hours and played them."

After a 10-0 mercy-rule victory against Charlotte in the semifinals, North had a rematch with Fort Myers. In the beginning, things looked good as the Red Knights took an 8-2 lead.

It was a lead they promptly lost as the Green Wave scored six in the fifth to tie the game then took an 11-9 lead in the seventh.

Again, North didn't quit. And it was Lane again who provided the big hit with a walk-off two-run double that sent them to its third trip to states in school history.

Lane, who had five RBIs in the Fort Myers win, said in those game-winning situations, she was only thinking of making solid contact and not go for the home run.

"I was trying to hit a line drive because home runs come from line drives. I wasn't overthinking in the box. I just had a song in my head," Lane said.

The song? "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts. And she was going to drive it all night long. Which she did.

It could also mean Lane's season, which started rough for her, but when it mattered the most, she was spot on.

"We tried to stay positive. It was hard because we were down and needed a couple runs," Lane said. "Getting on and having girls get hits and being able to hit that home run really helped."

This will be North's third trip to states, having made it in 2009 and 2017. The school has not won a state championship in a team sport.