The Columbus Cyclones and Caledonia Sassy Sluggers departed their softball diamonds at Propst Park on Saturday afternoon with medals around their necks.
Sure, it wasn”t their top medal of choice — that would be gold, marking the accomplishment of their top goals this week at the Amateur Softball Association tournament. Still, a third-place finish for the Cyclones and second-place for the Sassy Sluggers marked successful tournament runs.
“Our girls played hard,” Calandra Lashley said. “We came up out the (12-and-under) losers” bracket to take third. I”m proud of them.”
Adam Lux felt the same about his 10-and-under team from Caledonia.
“The girls did good,” Lux said. “Runner-up at state, that”s pretty good.”
On Friday, the Cyclones lost their opening game 13-11 to the Caledonia Lady Raiders. They rebounded to beat the Nettleton Crossfire 23-7 and Clarkdale 13-9 before falling to the Lady Raiders 9-3.
Entering the game, Lashley reminded her team, “If we lose we go home. I told them to get up this morning ready to play.
“They got up this morning and they were ready,” she said. “You can”t beat 23 runs in a game of softball. In the final game, we had a lot of girls that got heat exhaustion. We had to bring a lot of them out, a lot of key players. I think the girls started breaking down toward the end.”
On Saturday, the Sassy Sluggers lost to the Monroe Magic 11-4.
“We didn”t hit the ball well, but they played hard,” Lux said of his players. “It”s been a hot afternoon. We played five, six ballgames, so they”re tired and wore out.”
Columbus Crush win title
The Columbus Crush didn”t outslug many teams this week en route to the third Mississippi ASA state tournament win for many of the players, their coach said.
But the Crush dominated opponents with fundamentals. They kept errors to a minimum, made the plays they were supposed to make and made a few plays with their bats.
In the end, that recipe was enough to give the Crush the 12-and-under championship.
The next stop is Tupelo, where the team will compete in the regional World Series against teams from other Southern states.
“This year we just really hadn”t got the momentum going,” said coach Steve Ruth, who mentors the group with Tim Frazier. “But we won today.”
The Crush used seventh-inning heroics to take the crown. With the scored tied at 9-9 against the Caledonia Lady Raiders, Kelsie Gearheart tripled. Mara Ruth also tripled to drive home the winning run.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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