It only took three innings for Montverde to defeat East Lake High School to win the 2025 Montverde Academy Invitational Softball Tournament championship.
The Eagles beat East Lake 15-0 on Saturday on campus to win MAIST for the third year in a row.
MVA started the bottom of the first with some key hitting as both Danika Spinogatti and Addie Poe got on base, followed by Elena Friedman who dropped a ball into left field that got both runners home and give the Eagles an early 2-0 advantage.
The bottom of the second is when the Eagles really broke it open, scoring 10 runs to jump ahead 12-0.
Colby Reish and Ashley Berkemeier both got on base to set up Luna Taboas who hit a line drive singe to left field, followed by an error by the left fielder that led all three runners scoring making the score 5-0.
Elena Friedman came up with the biggest play of the game as she capitalized on a bases loaded situation, hitting a grand slam to right field to put the Eagles up 9-0. Her six runs batted in, along with her game winning double in Friday's win over Winter Springs, led to her winning the tournament's Slugger Award.
""I'm really really grateful that I got the Slugger Award but I couldn't do it without my teammates and without them behind me," Friedman said after the game.
The scoring didn't stop there as Missy Odom hit an RBI ground out in which Leila Susaia caught East Lake sleeping as she stole home to give Montverde Academy a 10-0 lead.
Luna Taboas continued to pile on runs as she hit a single that got Colby Reish home and pounced off a couple of East Lake defensive mistakes to steal second, third, and home making the score 12-0.
The third inning was more of the same for Montverde Academy as Addie Poe, Miranda Murch, and Emerson Gunkel all scored to end the game with a 15-0 mercy rule.
"We're just on fire and it feels like so much fun to be out here with them to be on the field, I think that they're just ready every single time we step on the field to give everything they got into it, and so that's why the games have been how they have been," said head coach Kahley Armstrong.
The Eagles are now 5-0 this season.
The state and nationally ranked Eagles return to the diamond this Tuesday for a home game against Tampa Catholic at 6:00 pm.
