CLEWISTON — The Seminole Lightning youth softball team completed a remarkable turnaround by winning their final game May 6 to finish the season undefeated.

It was only a year ago that the same group of girls with the same coaching staff encountered a winless season.

What a difference a year makes.

“We went from a no-win season to a no-loss season,” said assistant coach O’Bryan White, who coaches alongside head coach and fellow Big Cypress Seminole Recreation employee Kelvin Robinson.

The Lightning, whose players come from the Big Cypress Reservation, went 10-0-2 in Clewiston’s coach-pitch league for ages 7 to 9. Robinson said one of the team’s strengths is that there isn’t a weak bat in the entire lineup.

“All our girls can hit,” he said.

In the season finale, the team showed plenty of focus in the field for young girls.

“How many outs?” assistant coach Albert Graham asked the players.

“Two,” they yelled.
“Where is the play?” the coach inquired.

“First,” was the response.

During a break between innings, Leliah Ramirez proclaimed what the team’s record shows:

“We’re awesome,” she told her teammates in the dugout.

The Lightning fell behind early in their season finale, but rallied to win. Tahnia Billie and Caidence Guzman-Billie each had two-run singles.

Finishing the season undefeated wasn’t the only goal for the girls.

“At the end they started playing good because we told them if they went undefeated we would take them to Dave & Buster’s,” Robinson said.

Robinson noted that the coach-pitch season has helped the team prepare for the NAYO softball tournament that will be held in July in Mississippi.