Montverde Academy is set to host its annual Montverde Academy Invitational Softball Tournament (MAIST) as the Eagles will host seven of the most elite high school softball teams from different parts of the state of Florida. The tournament is being held Thursday February 29Â through Saturday March 2 at the Montverde Academy Softball Complex.
Besides the Eagles, the other seven teams who will be competing this weekend include Calvary Christian (Clearwater, FL), East Lake High School (Tarpon Springs, FL), The Episcopal School (Jacksonville, FL), Oviedo High School (Oviedo, FL), Oakleaf High School (Orange Park, FL), Winter Springs High School (Winter Springs, FL) and West Orange High School (Winter Garden, FL).
The tournament is set to start on Thursday with the first game at 2:30 pm, followed by games at 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm.
The games continues with day two on Friday with times scheduled for 10:00 am, 12:30 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm.
The event concludes on Saturday with consolation games at 11:00 am, 1:30 pm, 4:00 pm, followed by the championship game at 6:30 pm.
The tournament will close with an awards presentation after the championship game.
The Eagles enter the tournament with a 3-1 record. On the hitting side of things, the Eagles have been led by Luna Taboas with team leads in batting average (.500), runs batted in (7) and stolen bases (4), while sharing the team lead in runs (5). Meanwhile teammate Elena Friedman is second in batting average (.444) and leads the team in doubles (2) and shares the team lead in runs (5).
Pitching wise, the Eagles have been nearly untouchable, allowing just one earned run in 24 innings of softball for a team earned run average an incredible 0.29.
The trio of pitchers, Emerson Gunkel, Nevaeh Williams and La'Breah Sands have combined to strike out 40 batters. Williams leads the team with 21, followed by Sands with 15.
"We've pulled very competitive teams from all around the state to join us this season at MAIST, and so we expect to see lots of good, close games," Montverde Academy softball coach Kahley Armstrong said. "Our girls are working hard to bring home the trophy to be back-to-back MAIST champs."
