The motivation and inner drive to win a championship comes in all forms. It could be redemption for past failures or proving people wrong who doubted you as a team.
And sometimes it has nothing to do with what happens on the field.
The 2026 Saint Leo University softball team’s journey that led to a Division II national title June 3 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, began at the first team meeting in early January.
Lions coach Erin Kinberger remembers it well, though it was triumph born from pain.
“The most pivotal moment was our opening meeting in January,” Kinberger said from the team bus as they triumphantly headed home to the pastoral campus approximately 35 miles north of Tampa. “I was in physical therapy because I was recovering from breast cancer, a double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery. I lost the ability to use my arms, so I had to go to physical therapy to use my arms and physically recover.
“I was having a rough day, and my therapist talked about imagination and what’s possible, and a belief. And we took that back to the team and the staff and we built upon that.”
That belief and trust in one another led to an astonishing 54-3-1 record that included winning streaks during the season of 38 and 11 games, and the fewest season losses by a national champion in NCAA Division II softball history. Only three previous champions had finished with as few as four losses.
The Lions went undefeated throughout the postseason and became only the second No. 1 seed since 2016 to win a Division II softball national championship. It’s also the first for a Florida school since Florida Southern College won the national tournament in 1993.
The national title was the second in the 137-year school history, joining the men’s golf team which won its first NCAA Division II National Championship in 2016, defeating Chico State 3–2 in match play.
The numbers are staggering: Most program wins with 44 in the regular season and 54 victories overall, a 29-1 record in Sunshine State Conference play, and an undefeated home record during the season.
At the center of it all was the 41-year-old Kinberger, a Saint Leo alumna, three-time coach of the year, and cancer survivor. Last year at this time Kinberger was completing chemotherapy treatment, but she never missed a single practice.
“The one thing I wanted was for them to know that I was willing to do whatever it took to beat the cancer,” Kinberger said in an interview earlier in the season.
The team embraced her resilience, carrying that spirit from the season opener through the championship game.
“We always believed we could be in contention for this moment,” Kinberger said. “This is my 12th year at Saint Leo and what we did this year started 12 years ago with what I call the OGs (original girls) who helped lay the foundation for the vision I had for the program.
“Every class has left Saint Leo softball better than they found it. This year specifically it was the depth that we had on the team that was such a difference maker.”
Best friends and champions
Team chemistry in sports matters, and the Lions raised that bar to new heights. Kinberger said even girls who were competing for playing time at the same position constantly pushed other to improve throughout the season.
“It’s a mix. It always is,” Kinberger said of how she and her staff built the dynamic team. “We had four freshmen, one that was an everyday player. We had a fifth-year senior, juniors, sophomores, we don’t really care how old they are.
“The cool thing is they all lead at different times. We don’t have a specific captain. We say to each woman you have two eyes and a brain, and a mouth, and if we put it all together we can be an unstoppable force. They lead when their moment arises. So we have everything from fifth-year leadership to freshmen leadership. Everyone holds each other accountable.”
Kinberger said her favorite memory from the season occurred during an early game in the championship finals.
“We had the bases loaded in the Cal (California) State San Marcos game (the second game of the tournament) and the girls did that Leo dance on the field in a tight ball game with the tie run on third,” Kinberger said. “There was a review of a play so there was a timeout on the field and they started to play music during the review and it just happened to be the song that the Gold Rush dance team does at Saint Leo.
“It’s a high stakes moment and our kids heard the music and our dugout started the Leo cheer and the girls on the field were dancing and singing looking at their dugout. That will forever be engrained in my mind.”
Junior centerfielder Sydney Cline, a former star at Academy at the Lakes, echoed her coach’s sentiments.
“I don’t think many of the girls on the team felt any pressure,” said Cline, whose fourth inning head-long diving catch in left-center field saved two runs and kept the score tied at 1 in the national championship game against McKendree University. “Playing this year just felt like a lot of fun. It didn’t even feel like we were playing softball. It’s always a great time with the people that you’re surrounded by on this team and it made it really easy to go out and play for each other and win.”
Cline said she only had one thought on her mind as she dove for the sinking line drive.
“I just kind of blacked out,” Cline said with a laugh. “But I knew that after they had scored to tie the game I was like, there’s no way I’m letting anything hit the ground. And with runners in scoring position if I didn’t catch that ball that game would have been completely different.”
But as they did all season, the Lions responded in force, using former Nature Coast standout Izzy LaRoche’s two-run triple to left-center field in the top of the seventh inning to cement the 5-2 victory for the title.
Coming home
Prior to coming to Saint Leo in 2014, Kinberger also had a successful run coaching at Division II Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, where she led the Tigers to a 107-51 record in her three years at the helm.
With her guidance the Tigers won a program-best 47 games in 2013 and clinched the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Central Regional. It was only their second tournament appearance in the program’s history, the last occurring a decade prior in 2003.
Kinberger also secured the Tiger’s first national ranking, ascending to No. 10 in the nation in the NFCA Top 25 poll.
But returning to Saint Leo, where during her time as a player she led her team to a pair of regional postseason appearances and garnered All-SSC selections in each of her years at the school, was always the end goal. In 2006, she was recognized as the Saint Leo Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and as a senior received the Sunshine State Conference Female Sportsmanship Award in 2007.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2007, and went on to earn her master of science degree in Health and Human Performance in 2009 from Fort Hays State University.
“It’s always been my dream to come back to Saint Leo,” said Kinberger, who attended Countryside High in Clearwater where she played four years of softball. “Saint Leo changed my life. I wasn’t academic in high school. I needed a small school setting and Saint Leo provided that. And everyone there knows your name.
“I remember vividly walking across campus as a freshman and Dr. (Arthur) Kirk was the president at the time, and he said, ‘I saw your double off the wall last night, congratulations on the win.’ And I asked my coach who was this guy. And she said, ‘Erin, that’s the president, Dr. Kirk.’”
Kinberger also credited her first team in 2014 for accepting a new voice and direction for the program.
“I came in August and the team was already in place,” Kinberger said. “The OGs (original girls) who were seniors could have decided they weren’t going to buy in to this new coach. But they saw the vision and they bought in to what the new standards were and I think that was a pivotal moment in this era of Saint Leo softball, those original women saying, ‘Alright, this is different, but this could be really good.’ That really started the foundation.”
A foundation that seems fortified for more championships with 20 of 26 players returning next year.
Cline said Kinberger’s leadership and ability to galvanize the team toward its goals on and off the field are its driving force.
“As a freshman, coming into college can be extremely complicated,” Cline said. “Especially if you’re far away from home. You really have no other choice other than to take those girls under your wing and embrace them. Your whole goal on the team is to make everybody else around you just as good if not better than yourself so they can take care of this program when you leave.”
Honoring the community
With the new national acclaim, Kinberger is hoping the national title shines an even brighter light on the Saint Leo campus.
“It’s proof that in a society where bigger is better and more is better; we’re a small school but with a big heart and a really tight-knit community with a lot of support and love.
“Saint Leo is a hidden gem in the hills of Dade City. I love it there.”