The State Tournament

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~ 

We drove to Girard Kansas (by Pittsburg, KS) for the Babe Ruth 10u girls state softball tournament on June 30th.  Stacee and I had the van loaded with all kinds of things we might need along with 3 cute kids.

Above we are meeting with Mark Donley who heads up the tournament before our first game on Friday evening.

Friday, June 30th - Game 1 - 5pm - Against Independence

I am going to be brief with the information as the tournament was not a success for our team.  The other teams were "All-Star", hand-picked, teams and we had trouble competing.  All teams pitched great, fielded great, and hit great.  We were able to do all three great at times, but we had our lapses.

Quinn pitched for our team during game 1.

Mylie caught for our team.

Sarah played first base for this game, Madilyn was at second base, Hope at short stop, and Hannah played third base.  In the outfield we had Aleigha, Brittney, Alayna, and Lexy.

Sarah hit one good hard hit down the third base line for a single in this game, struck out once, and walked once.

We lost this game opening night 12-2.

 Below, Madilyn receiving the WOW Award for Game 1.  She played great defense at 2nd base the entire game.

Friday Evening - Opening Ceremony and Swimming at the Hotel

Below, our tournament team, left to right, Coach DJ, Coach Matt, Coach Eric, Hannah #9, Alayna #4, Dessa #20, Hope #0, Brittney #3, 

Lexy #7, Aleigha #21, Quinn #10, Sarah #5, Madilyn #2, and Mylie #12.

Well, we have now realized that our level of competition was as good or better than Winfield.

We did have a fun night swimming at the hotel.  Two other families from our team were staying at the same hotel, or "Hometel" as Silas called it, in Pittsburg as us.  The kids and I all fit in the hot tub.

Saturday, July 1st - Game 2 - 11am - Against Girard

Hannah pitched game 2 for our team.

Sarah played third base for this game.  She is a rockstar at third base.  Tough and fierce, as Stacee would say.  She was able to stop and knock down some very hard hits to and at her during this game and made some beautiful throws to first base to get a few of the girls on the Girard team out.

Below, Sarah receiving the WOW award, after the game, from the league commissioner for her mad 3rd base skills and her monster hit to left center.

Hannah, one of Sarah's BFF's got the "SHE" award for this game, It is an award for sportsmanship.  I love these girls and their friendship!  We were glad they both got awarded for their hard work, team leadership, and tough and fierce play.

We lost 16-2.  This team ended up winning the tournament.

Saturday, July 1st - Game 3 - 2pm - Against Arma

Arma was a team we thought we could compete with, and we did.

Sarah hit well this entire game.  Her biggest hit came when the bases were loaded.  It was a hard hit, pop up to left field.  The fielder missed it, and Sarah got a triple, driving in 3 runs for her team.

Sarah played first for this game and Quinn pitched.

At one point the score was 9-7 but we ended up losing 12-8.

Saturday, July 1st - Game 4 - 5pm - Against Pittsburg

In between games, in the dug out, soaking in some shade....

Pre-game warm-up and pop fly catching....

The girls were loose and ready to play.

Sarah played first base again for this game and Quinn pitched.

Below, Sarah leading off third to steal home.

Pittsburg was the most athletic of all teams and wound up getting 2nd place in the tournament.  By now, I had had enough of losing and didn't like the aggressive manner that Pittsburg was playing.  I got loud, and maybe would take back some of the things I said, but I was able to get a spark going in our team.  (Stacee got pretty loud on the bleachers too, even yelling at the Ump.  Our kids must get their competitiveness from her.)  We lost 16-4.  A tough tournament and a learning experience.  I was impressed with Sarah's play.  She didn't quit and made good plays on offense and defense.  Sarah could have been a player on any of these teams.  It was a great individual end to Sarah's season.