Tennessee Fury '97 win ASA Gold 16 national title

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

The Tennessee Fury '97 select girls' fastpitch softball team won the Amateur Softball Association 16-under Gold national championship over the weekend.

In the finals of the first Gold classification in the age group, the Fury defeated the Tulsa Elite '98 10-9 in extra innings and then 7-2. That was the second ASA national title for the area-based team, which won the 14-under championship in Sioux Falls, S.D., in 2012.

"The feeling of winning an ASA/USA national championship can't be described," Fury coach Randy Coppinger said in a news story at asasoftball.com. "This is our second ASA/USA national championship, but the feeling never gets old. When you win an ASA/USA national championship, you know you've earned something special."

The Fury outscored their opponents 117-31 on the way to a 10-2 record in the tournament. One loss was in pool play; the other was to the Tulsa Elite '98 in the winners-bracket final.

Libby Sugg led the Fury for the week with 23 RBIs, with three coming on a home run in their four-run first inning in the clinching game. She hit four homers, scored 11 runs and finished the tournament with a .583 batting average. Coffee County ace Brianna Jones had a 3-2 pitching record with 25 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings pitched and a 2.39 ERA.

Jordan Fortel was the winning pitcher in the final game. She gave up six hits and one walk. In addition to leading the team in home runs in the tournament with eight, she contributed a single in the last game during the Fury's two-run sixth, which included a steal of home by Whitwell's Alyssa Coppinger.

The Tennessee Fury '98 finished fourth in the tournament.

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