Michael Sandle strolled up to the plate in the fifth inning Sunday with the same confidence he’s had throughout his college career.

Disregard the pop up in his last at-bat against Coastal Carolina on a sun-splashed May afternoon at the University of South Alabama’s Stanky Field. That wasn’t about to rattle the former Navarre Raider.

In those final moments of an historic flag football season Friday, the players on the Navarre sideline were still clapping, still encouraging each other to not give up.

Forget about the 15-point deficit they were staring up at or that their dream of a state championship was about to end on a sun-splashed afternoon in Jacksonville.

Michael Carter held a cellphone in his hand, smiling and saying thank you several times to New York Jets General Manager Joe Douglas, who was on the other end of the line. 

Carter then put his head down for a moment before looking up and shouting an emphatic ‘Yeah!’ raising his arms in the air as his family cheered in the background.

Tailor Ernst and Rachel Leggett pulled away briefly from the celebration near the sideline, pushed off each other while smiling and then brought it in for a high five and a hug.

A minute or so earlier, the Navarre duo connected on a clutch scoring strike on fourth down. Ernst dropped back and found Leggett in traffic. She caught the ball and turned up the jets down the left sideline on her way to the end zone.

The quest for the College Cup begins next week in women’s soccer and two former Navarre Raider standouts will be involved in that journey.

Emily Madril and Hailey Bastian are both headed to the tourney with their respective teams.