The Chattanooga Force edged the Georgia Heat 2-1 in the 18-under final at Frost Stadium on Sunday in the Amateur Softball Association’s Memorial Classic fastpitch tournament.

The Force also earned an ASA A-Division national berth as a result of being the tournament's highest-finishing Tennessee team in their age group. The 18-under A national will be held in Las Vegas beginning in late July.

The winning run in the championship game came in the top of the fifth and final inning. Courtney Gobble reached on a one-out bunt single. With two out, Brittany Cooley and Whitney Long came through with consecutive hit-and-run singles with Long getting the RBI.

Stacie Scott's groundout in the first inning had driven in Kristin Whitmire, who started the game by walking. Jennifer Long's homer provided the Heat's run in the third.

Katie Freels, who missed almost all of her senior season at Rhea County this spring because of a leg fracture she suffered in an automobile accident, was the winning pitcher in relief. She came on with two on and none out in the fourth and managed to quiet the rally, thanks to two standout plays by second baseman Casey Griffin. She made a diving catch for one out and turned another difficult chance into a force out at home.

Freels ended up being the winning pitcher three times as the Force went 5-0 over the weekend. Whitmire, who usually plays shortstop, and Erica Morris, who normally plays left field, were pressed into duty as catchers because two teammates that catch regularly weren’t available over the weekend.

Jessica Chernak’s .545 average led the Force in the competition and Cooley hit .417 and drove in six runs. Whitmire’s two-out, two-run homer in the final inning of one game turned a one-run deficit into a one-run victory.

“We had a lot of clutch two-out hits,” Force coach Ken Chernak said. “Brittany Cooley had those six RBIs and a lot of them were tying runs and go-ahead runs. Courtney Gobble was amazing on the bases and had a couple of bunt basehits. We were expecting to use Katie Freels for a couple of innings this weekend, just to get her going, and she ended up pitching the bulk of the innings we played. She did a good job, considering she's had no work.

“I think we played better than we ever thought about.”

14-under: At Tyner, both teams in the final were from the Tennessee Fury organization. Those with birthdays in 1994 beat those born in ‘95 4-2 and 3-0.

The first game in the final went six innings with Kimberly Jack earning the pitching victory. Corey Swafford threw a five-inning two-hitter in the second game.

Madison Boyd contributed a 4-for-6 effort and scored three runs in the two games. Cassie Pickett’s two-out double in the fifth broke a 2-2 tie in the first game, then she went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the second game. Holly Gross was 3-for-3 with two stolen bases in the second game.

“We were disappointed that we fell into the losers bracket yesterday afternoon,” Fury 14s coach Kim Swafford said of a loss Saturday. “We battled back and won, but we had to play six games back through the losers bracket. Our hitting came alive today. Our pitching really held the other teams down.”

The Fury 14s become the second local team in this age group to clinch a spot in the ASA national in nearby Marietta, Ga. The Force qualified after going 5-0 in Hendersonville last weekend.

“With our national tournament in Marietta, a lot of Tennessee teams are going to want to try to qualify,” Swafford. “I know we're tickled to get a berth.”

16-under: At Warner Park, the locally based Tennessee Fury went 4-2 and their fourth-place finish was the highest among in-state teams. Teams from Georgia earned the top three spots.

Tory Lewis paced the Fury's effort by going 7-for-11 Lacye Walker went 5-for-11 with a double and Sara Kelley ended up 4-for-10 with a double.

Since the Fury already had a spot in the ASA national tournament secured from last season, the bid was passed on to the next Tennessee team, the Knoxville Fury. The national tournament is in Souix Falls, S.D.