Cardinal Mooney softball ready to return to championship ways

If the Cardinal Mooney softball team needs any evidence that it can win a state championship one day, all it needs to do is open the state record book. 

Thirty years ago, the Cougars were one of the best softball programs in Florida.

Cardinal Mooney made it to the state championship game every season from 1994-98, winning state championships in ‘94 and ‘95.

However, girls at Cardinal Mooney eventually began gravitating to other sports, like volleyball, lacrosse and track and field. With a student body of around 500, there were precious few athletes to spread around. 

That led to the softball team disbanding from 2013 to 2018. 

After bringing the program back in 2019, however, the Cougars are starting to show signs that they’re on their way back to contending for championships thanks to a few pivotal people. 

A rocky start 

Cardinal Mooney assistant softball coaches Patty Wacha and Julie Jordan know the potential of the program as well as anyone.

Wacha just missed out on winning a state championship as a member of the school’s junior varsity team as a freshman in 1995. Jordan also missed a title by one year after she transferred from Sarasota for the 1996 season. 

The Cougars finished as state runner-ups each year during Wacha and Jordan’s tenure.

After going their separate ways after high school, the opportunity to revive their former softball team brought them back together in 2019.

Jordan said Bill Donivan, Cardinal Mooney’s athletic director, reached out to her to help coach the team during its first season back. Jordan, a stay-at-home mother, knew she couldn’t commit to the responsibility of being a head coach.

That led her to reach out to Wacha on Facebook for some assistance. 

Image courtesy of Liz Chappell

“When the program went away, it broke my heart,” Wacha said. “Back when I played, we were a pretty solid team and pretty well known throughout the state. So for me, being a part of bringing that program back is hard to put into words.”

Restarting the program wasn’t without its obstacles.

Cardinal Mooney had precious few students with any softball experience. Then, the program went through four head coaches — Shawn Donelson, Liz Chappell, Terah Guengerich and Kirsten Smith — in its first four years. 

However, Wacha and Jordan stuck around to give the players some stability. 

“I think the two of them are the reason it didn’t fall apart because they kept fighting for the girls and the girls knew they would still be here no matter what,” said Chappell, who returned as the team’s head coach in 2023. “That was huge because there was a core group of seven or eight girls who knew they’d have a team whether there was a head coach or not.”

Wacha and Jordan have proved to be invaluable, but their presence didn’t turn the Cougars into instant contenders. 

Cardinal Mooney won just one varsity game from 2019 to 2020 and didn’t have a winning season until this past year, when it went 15-5. 

Without a few pivotal players in those first few seasons, that turnaround might have never happened.

Setting the foundation

Gianna Newsome had been ‘taunting and haunting’ Donivan to bring the softball program back for two-plus years as a student at Cardinal Mooney until he finally relented during the 2018-19 school year, Chappell said. 

Newsome’s time on the field was brief — she was a junior in 2019 and a senior during the COVID-shortened 2020 season — but her persistence created the possibility for players to follow her lead.

Natalie Mercadante was a freshman during the team’s first year back in 2019 and grew into a four-year player who became a team captain.

Madison Duncan was one of the team’s top hitters for all four years of her high school career from 2021-24. She hit .571 with 37 runs and 29 RBIs as a senior on last year’s team. 

Caity Patterson may have the best success story. She was one of the Cougars’ top hitters and their ace when she played from 2020-23 and went on to play for Florida Gulf Coast University (2024) and Florida International University (2025). 

“We’ve had a couple of key players who kept it alive for us, and that’s a really important part of building a program,” Jordan said. “(Patterson) was still able to achieve all of her dreams even though she didn’t have a team of travel ball players around here. Slowly, more girls who also wanted Cardinal Mooney as their school realized, ‘Hey, we can have the best of both worlds here.’”

A new era 

With players like Newsome, Mercadante, Patterson and Duncan paving the way, Cardinal Mooney has become a viable option for area softball players.

However, Chappell said she never expected that to lead to a freshman class filled with players ready to make a big impact in 2024.

Olivia Lockhart and Ava Proffitt, two players who all three coaches agree have collegiate potential, had breakout seasons last year as freshmen. 

Lockhart hit .721 with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs as the team’s starting shortstop and Proffitt hit .469 with 34 runs and 18 RBIs as the team’s starting second baseman.

Photo by Vinnie Portell

Two other 2024 freshmen, Kayla Skaarup (.404 with 20 runs) and Erin Suggs (team-high 48 innings and .381 average), added some depth to the talent pool as well. 

Sam Mitchell (.354 with 22 runs), who transferred to Cardinal Mooney from Sarasota Christian as a junior last season, is another impact player who has helped lead the team’s success.

This season, Cardinal Mooney (4-2) is putting itself to the test against much tougher competition. Despite opening with losses against Sarasota and Venice, the Cougars bounced back with four straight wins. 

“I think we’re getting there,” Chappell said. “Opening with Sarasota and Venice this year was hard, for sure, but I knew that we could handle being on the field with them this year. Two years ago? Absolutely not.”

Proffitt, Lockhart, Skaarup and Suggs have been at the heart of that success this year, along with some new help. 

Freshman Isabella DeCarlo is off to a strong start, as are Michelle Will, a senior, and Katie Will, a sophomore, who both transferred from Inspiration Academy.

Winning comes much easier these days for Cardinal Mooney, but that’s not to say there isn’t work still to be done. 

MaxPreps ranks Cardinal Mooney as the No. 206 team in Florida and the Cougars play in a district with Calvary Christian (10-0), the No. 14 team in the nation. 

However, one who knows what it takes for Cardinal Mooney to be great, like the Cougars' chances of returning atop the mountain of Florida prep softball. 

“I know we can get back to where we were,” Wacha said. “And we’re well on our way.”