Tigers softball finishes off undefeated run to win Nike RBI title

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- What a difference a year makes.

After an early exit in the 2024 Nike RBI World Series, Detroit Tigers RBI Softball 18U clawed its way through a gauntlet field to clinch the 2025 title at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla.

The celebration was an extended one -- and deservedly so for a team that swept through regional play, pool play and the double-elimination bracket without a blemish to its record.

So it was only right that its players basked in the glory of their crowning moment -- each receiving a commemorative trophy after defeating New Jersey’s Roberto Clemente Nike RBI 18U group 3-1 in the tourney final.

Then came a hype-filled huddle that included renditions of Gmac Cash’s “Tigers Won Again” and DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” Next, it was picture time, as Tigers RBI Softball 18U members posed for timeless keepsakes with softball legends Jennie Finch and Natasha Watley while hoisting their trophies.

The cheers resounded around Excellence Field again when starting pitcher Sasha Walker was announced as the tournament’s MVP. She was undoubtedly the championship game’s hero, pitching a complete game and striking out nine against five hits in seven innings. And shortly after Walker’s special moment, head coach Ron Goss was doused with an orange sports drink bath.

He ensured that the sparkling silver championship trophy didn’t slip from his grasp in the process. For the longtime head coach, this was a moment years in the making.

“[Assistant] coach Dante [Borum] and I took over the RBI program seven years ago,” he detailed, “and they never really did anything. [It] was a little competitive, but never made it to the World Series. … As we started rebuilding it, we could see it coming. And then just finally getting to the point where now everybody wants to play RBI.

“Before -- you could take 15 [girls] back then -- we’d get 16 girls. It's like ‘I got one cut to make? Dang.’ Well, now we're starting to get a little more participation. The coaching staff has been sticking together -- we've been together for a few years now -- and we’re just changing the whole perception of Detroit. So I'm happy about that.”

Goss explained that last year’s disappointment gave this year’s team the chops to take the title.

“Last year was our first year coming down here,” Goss said, “and it was kind of a shock to see how good everybody was, and then had to deal with the heat. We kind of had a better idea of what we were dealing with.

“And we got stronger. [We] came down here with depth, speed, youth. It means a lot, because Detroit hadn't done anything like this in a long time.”

Detroit’s run in the 2025 series was dominant. It put up a combined nine runs against its first two opponents during double-elimination play, while holding both scoreless in assertive showings.

Tigers RBI Softball 18U met Roberto Clemente for the second occasion of the week (they had defeated the squad earlier in pool play) on Friday morning. Kaylin Evans headed the charge both in the circle and at the dish in that matchup, allowing three runs and knocking in four in Detroit’s 5-3 win.

The next morning marked championship Saturday, with a familiar foe standing in between Detroit and an undefeated sweep.

Walker got the ball for Detroit and helped her own cause with an RBI at the plate. Autumn McSawby got the squad on the board with an RBI groundout in the first, while Walker and Sheyla Urena-Jordan knocked in a run apiece in the fourth. Walker and Urena-Jordan each finished with a team-high two hits in the affair.

Their contributions helped stamp a historic win for Detroit, whose players are hoping this is just the beginning for softball in the city.

“I feel like Detroit's very underrated, and people don't really see all the talent that's in it,” Sydney Evans, who will play for Hampton University in the fall, said. “So I feel like this could inspire young Black girls to be like, ‘I can do this too,’ and it can put more light onto Detroit and the sports that are in it.

“Recently, I hosted a camp for younger girls who wanted to do softball. So being able to put this into their life and show them the love that I have for it, and what they can get for it, I feel like this could be a really big change in the city.”

“When we got down here last year,” Goss said, “we were kind of an afterthought. But now everybody looks at that navy blue and white “D,” and they're thinking we’re a problem. So I like the fact that we're on the map now. That's all I can say.

“We’re on the map now.”