Young softball team relishes competition

Citrus Park's team of 9- and 10-year-olds finds success with a potent mixture of fun and intensity.

By JEFF DARLINGTON and JEREMY RASMUSSEN

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2000

CITRUS PARK -- On several occasions before Thursday's state championship victory over cross-bay rival Seminole, Citrus Park softball player Alyese Stapf quizzed her father with a simple question.

"Do you think we're going to win tonight?"

She just turned 9 May 21, yet Stapf's attitude toward softball already has taken on the competitive flame.

Ten minutes before game time, however, the young starter had a different question, this time directed toward her coach, Mario Mirabal.

"Is it all right if I have some blue Italian ice, coach?"

That's the story of Citrus Park softball. The competition is intense. The fun, just as much a priority.

And with three state titles under the belt of the 9- and 10-year-old softball program since 1996, Citrus Park supporters pride themselves on the two ingredients that have helped concoct this perennial recipe for success.

"These girls are out here to have fun, and that is very obvious," Mirabal said. "Once they begin enjoying what they are doing, I think that desire to win just comes naturally. Whatever the case, I'm proud that these girls have taken on both challenges successfully."

But don't just credit the 9- and 10-year-old softball program. Citrus Park's softball program has developed into a powerhouse at all levels. And while keeping that strength with five minor, four major, two junior and four senior teams, this program has something to boast about.

In fact, according to Little League District 6 official Kim Roberts, Citrus Park Little League has had nine softball teams of all ages in the state final four since 1996, and seven have been champions.

"I think the success comes from getting everyone involved," Roberts said. "During practices, we welcome all the parents. They don't just drop off their kids and leave. The more you can break out into small groups and run drills with them individually, the more the kids learn."

The league also sponsors umpiring, coaching and managing clinics for its new parents to help them join into the overall training system.

"We don't have to ask them to coach. They all want to," Mirabal said. And this coaching didn't inherit all of the same talent from last year's title team. With only two of the 14 players returning for a second season, Mirabal and his staff once again had to work from the ground up.

"We go over the whole thing the same way as any new team. It doesn't matter if we are defending champsor not," Mirabal said. "These girls are new. You still have to go over all the fundamentals and all the drills right from the start."

Mirabal's daughter, Richelle, and teammate Morgan "Bulldog" Grove also were on the all-stars last season. As the only two returners, expectations of leadership and skill run a little higher for the two. These powerhouses have no problem clearing that bar. Grove, a 10-year-old at Dunbar Magnet School, offered her team three triples and five RBI, and pitched five strikeouts through three innings in Thursday's championship.

These girls are good. Grove knows it.

"We're the bomb," Grove says unabashedly.

Perhaps the reason for becoming "the bomb" also rests in the belief that Citrus Park doesn't treat its softball teams as second-class citizens.

"In Citrus Park, the girls aren't treated as second-rate, like they are in some programs," Mirabal said. "The girls are treated equally with the boys. In fact, we may have the best field of anybody."

With the rapid population growth of northwestern Hillsborough, however, one good field has not been enough to support the increasing number of players.

"We had 13 teams playing on one field," Roberts said. "It was getting a little ridiculous."

Starting next spring, the Citrus Park/Keystone Association will split up. Keystone Little League will play at the new Ed Radice Park. About 350-400 of the 1,050 players at Citrus Park will likely go to the new venue, off S Mobley Road, just east of Race Track Road.

For everyone who played on this year's team, though, there will be a permanent reminder of their achievement. Mirabal said that the girls were looking forward to seeing their names on the historic board at the Citrus Park field.

"It's a big incentive for them," Mirabal said. "They knew that if they won, they would get their names up there, and they'd be there forever."

Citrus Park Championship Roster

(in order of lineup from Thursday's game)

head coach -- Mario Mirabal

14 Jeannine Ray

1 Khrystyne Ely

8 Morgan Grove

3 Richelle Mirabal

10 Katie Schafheimer

2 Alyese Stapf

11 Alexandra Luce

9 Julie Stevenson

6 Caitlan McDonald

13 Jackie Herrington

4 Gina Kafalas

7 Trisha DeBold

5 Amanda Smith

12 Hannah Ojeda

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