MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week: St. Thomas Aquinas softball

News alert. Not only does St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) possess the best softball team in the state of Florida, but the same girls are also evidently superb long-distance runners.

Well, that is if you listen to coach Bryan Baucom.

"It's not a sprint, but a marathon," the coach said after his defending state champions have started the season 14-0.

The Raiders aren't just 14-0 — they've outscored foes by an astounding 133-6 count. On top of that, they started the season with five straight shutouts and 10 in 11 games.

So when asked about repeating as state champions, Baucom said it's not even on the radar.

"Our team works hard each day and they know it won't be easy to repeat," he said. "One game at a time is our approach."

For that approach and their fast start, the Raiders have been selected as the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.

The pitching is led by Meghan King, who is already 8-0 and has allowed just two earned runs in 55 innings. In that time she has 91 strikeouts and has allowed 15 hits.

"Meghan loves the big game," Baucom said. "She prepares herself mentally for those big games and has worked hard this off season to improve from last year."

If she falters, which doesn't appear likely, the Raiders have two other capable hurlers in Katie Behm and Olivia Saviskas, a freshman. Both are 3-0.

All the pitchers have plenty of offensive support.

Five girls are hitting at least .500 (with at least 10 at-bats), led by senior Gwen Svekis, who is hitting .621 with three home runs and 16 RBIs.

"She is the rudder of our boat," Baucom said of Svekis. "She steers the team in the right direction. She is a special talent that doesn't come along too often."

Other top hitters include Tayler Hishon (.500), Brianna Stella (.531), Thais Gonzalez (.516) and Brooke Stock (.500). Hishon, Stella and Stock are sophomores.

"We have a talented group of kids and there are 11 to 12 players who could be in the starting lineup," Baucom said.

But even with that much talent, the Raiders take nothing for granted.

"I think the goal is always win the last game you play," said Baucom. "Our team understands that no one is going to hand over the championship to them. Last year we played all of our playoff games on the road, which will benefit this team because they know how hard that was. There is no talk about states, just the next game."

MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.

Do you know a team that deserves consideration for Florida Team of the Week? Email us with your nominations at FLteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.