There is so much to write about. It will be hard to do it without sounding like a sore loser... but I could really care less..
First of all this was the absolute best softball the 12U Peaches have played in the 8 months or so the team has been around. this team was put together with a lot of raw talent. Many players had never played travel softball in their life. The fact that they have come this far so quickly is a testament to the coaches desire to teach these girls the fundamentals of great softball. They do all the little things right and that is why they are having success I believe (along with the fact that these girls really get along well and LOVE playing the game).
Now, we finshed in 3rd place out of about 15 or so teams. Our first game Saturday was a warm up game against a very good team Hit N Run. We lost that game by one run 4-3 where 1 bad inning was our downfall. Luckily that one doesn't count.
The first real game in the bracket was against the Carolina Heat. The heat are not a bad team but The Peaches were on and really hit well. The defense was on also and we run ruled them in 4 innings 10-0. One of our best games. And the best was yet to come.
Second round was against the UC Shock. this was a tight game throughout and we edged them 3-2.
The 3rd round was against the QC Spirit Blue who had beaten the IL Warriors 9-4 in the 2nd round. We had the lead 3-0 when they had a big inning and took the lead 4-3. we put 4 more on the baord the next inning and won the game 7-4. We finished Saturday as 1 of the only 2 teams that won their first 3 games. The other team? Hit N Run who had beaten us in the warm up game setting up a showdown the next day.
Sunday the girls were loose and ready. Hit N Run struck first and it looked bad for the Peaches. We were down 4-1 in the last inning. Then the magic happened. Bunts and hits and all of a sudden we had tied the game. We had a runner on 2b with 2 outs with Caiti up when it happened. She hit a line drive down the right field line that landed just inside the foul line that scored the winning run and we had finally beaten Hit N Run!! .... wait a minute... despite the fact that everyone in the park (including the opposing coach) saw the ball inside the line the home plate umpire apparently was not paying attention and called the ball FOUL..... what??? Oh what a time for this crap. Caiti eventually got out and with the wind taken out of our sails we lost in the extra inning.... It was a horribly disappointing loss and I will never understand how an ump can call something he obviously didn't see.
So now we have to play Chair City to get to the championship game against Hit N Run so we can get our revenge. Well it was not to be. We led the whole game but CC won the game with a big last inning and we lost with Bubbles on 3b 4-3 and the Peaches finished 3rd in the tournament.
Despite the 2 Sunday losses, the girls never gave up and played amazing softball the whole weekend. It would have been nice not to have been robbed our rightful place in the championship game but 3rd is a great in such a big tournament. Even a month ago there is no way they would have done so well. They are really coming into their own as a team!!
Some standouts:
Graycen was a pitching machine.
Cary made some good catches in RF and bunted very well all weekend.
Kyndall's bat was super hot and her defense was spectacular blocking balls and throwing out runners.
Sarah's bat was awesome.
Caiti hit well and had the game winning hit that SHOULD have put us in the championship game except for the blind umpire.
There were many more also...
There are so many people that are so proud of these girls for playing their hearts out this weekend. It was fun to watch even if it was very nerve racking. I am very proud and look forward to seeing them grow even more as a team. GO PEACHES!!
Cannot wait to see what happens next week!!
Peaches had another great tournament and another heartbreaking loss to end it. They ended up finishing in the A bracket in fourth place! Saturday started out on a high note when they beat the Southern Crush in the warm-up game 5-1. The Peaches then played the Lady Legends and won a close game 9-8. Next came the Carolina Stars. While the game was close for a long time a couple of errors led to a big inning for the Stars and they ended up taking it 8-3.Now in the losers bracket of the A bracket they played the Southern Crush again. This time was much tighter but the Peaches won out 5-4 in an International Tie Breaker. Now came a great team - The Carolina Angels- who had lost to the eventual champions (Piedmont Braves) by 1 run earlier. This was a great back and fourth game. Every time the Peaches went up by a couple of runs the Angels came back to tie it in the bottom of the inning. Finally we had to go to a International Tie Breaker in this game also. In the top of the inning our offense really came alive. Caiti had a big double with the bases loaded. Bubbles and Carolyn also had big hits that scored runs and we went up by 5! But guess what... we had a call not go our way and the Angels hit the ball well (plus a couple mental mistakes that should have been outs) and that allowed the Angels to score 5 in their half. We couldn't score the next inning and the Angels won by 1 run. Once again so close.
