Southern Girls player Abi Burnett fouls a pitch before walking on the next delivery at the Summit Softball Complex.The Louisiana Chaos won three times at The Summit of Softball complex Friday and earned a championship berth in the 18-under age group in the National Softball Association A Division World Series.
The Chaos defeated Southern Girls' Fastpitch out of Alabama in their morning game before blanking Illinois teams in their winners-bracket semifinal and final.
The Virginia Lady Titans followed a similar path to the 16-under final, beating teams from Indiana in their last two games.
The 16- and 18-under championships will be played today on Nos. 5 and 6 at The Summit at 11:30 a.m. Second games will follow if needed.
The first games of the 10-, 12- and 14-under finals are scheduled in succession at Frost Stadium at 9:45 a.m., 11:30 and 1:15. A second championship game in 14-under would be afterward at 3, if necessary. "If" games in the two younger age groups would be moved to other fields at Warner Park.
The Chaos got off to slow start in their first couple of tournaments in late spring but since then has gone 53 games without losing with two pool-play ties mixed in with the wins.
"It's been an unbelievable season," Chaos coach Ben McDonald said. "The girls have jelled well. We've got a lot of talent, and they've played well. We've beaten some outstanding teams along the way."
McDonald said about half the team thus far is pledged to play somewhere in college. Haylee Grantham, who is staying home and attending Baton Rouge Community College, threw the semifinal game against the Charleston Chill.
Afterward, Kaylee Guidry pitched a two-hitter and Kurstyn David went 3-for-3 with a double and scored one of the four runs in the victory over the Mattoon Pride. Natalie Landry and Megan McCullum each went 2-for-3 with a double. Landry had two RBIs and McCullum scored twice.
"It's been a great run," McDonald said. "I hope we can finish it off."
Taylor Thorpe was the winning pitcher and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the Lady Titans' 8-5 victory over the Indy Diamond Chix in their winners-bracket final. Leadoff batter Carly Adams, who also earned a save, walked four times and scored three runs. Jamie Barbour's two-run double highlighted a six-run sixth inning.
Generals top Falcons
Two local 16-under softball teams that combined to play more than 100 games this year had not crossed paths until meeting in a losers-bracket game Friday afternoon at The Summit. The Heritage Generals ended up beating the Frost Falcons 4-1.
The Heritage team went on to beat the Ohio Pride and Indiana Heartbreakers and will play the Mattoon Pride this morning at 8 on Field No. 5.
The Generals are a group including upcoming junior Kristin West, sophomore Katie Pritchett, both catchers and outfielders, and the rest eighth- and ninth-graders in Heritage's school system in Catoosa County, Ga. They're coached by Heritage High School coach Steve Chattin. He estimated they've played around 70-75 games, mostly college exposure and in-state tournaments, since starting play in March.
The Falcons are coached by GPS coach Susan Crownover, whose daughter, Kelby, is a team member. Coach Crownover said her team began playing in June and crammed in about 50-60 games, mostly in Tennessee.
"You don't have to take off all over the country to find good softball, especially when you're in Chattanooga," she said.
Danielle Long, who had been sharing the pitching load this year with Taylor Moran and Lauren Lawson, was the winning pitcher in the game. Pritchett drove in a run with a hit in the first inning and later tripled and Shelby Hammontree had a single and two RBIs.
"We've had solid defense, good pitching and timely hitting," Chattin said. "There's a lot of ability on this team."