Softball tourney is a hit

Published 6:06 pm Monday, May 30, 2011

The Carolina Lady Pilots (00) (top picture) were one of three teams to win a championship during the Memorial Day Weekend Softball Blast Sunday at the Susiegray McConnell Sports Complex Sunday. The Lady Pilots were the winners in the 10U division while the Pitt County Heartbreakers took first in the 12U classification and Dirt Devils (96) won the 14U division. The Lady Pilots are: (front row, from left) Sarah Nimmo, Casey Bunting, Kayla Hawley, Haylee Simpkins, (middle row, from left) Julie Etheridge, Megan Deal, Mackenzie Johnson, Devin Bunch, Candace Smith, (back row, from left) coaches Stanley Hawley, Donna Deal and Jimmy Johnson. Pictured below is group photo of the Dirt Devils 96 and 97 teams. The 96 team won the 14U title while the 97 team took second place. The players shown are: (front row, from left) Haley Wright, Kelsey Lang, Katie Laughinghouse, Sarah Aldridge, Ashley Weingartz, (middle row, from left) Alex Adams, Jessica Cleary, Catie Dority, Haley Hutchins, Maitlyn Gregory, Haley Cooper, (back row, from left) Lawson Perry, Kayla Smith, Tia Hardy, Anna Hardison, Delanie Winslow, Jordan Harris, Kendall Alligood and Marieva Daniels. (Contributed Photos)

The first-ever Washington Memorial Day Weekend Softball Blast wrapped up on Sunday as three champions were crowned in the 20-team tournament. The Carolina Dirt Devils (96) took first in the in the 14U division while the Pitt County Heartbreakers were tops in the 12U division and the Lady Pilots flew to first in the 10U classification.
Aside from a few showers on Saturday, the tournament finished up on Sunday without a glitch and a good time was had by all.
“The weather was great, we started on time and had tight ball games all throughout the tournament,” said Washington Girls Fastpitch Softball League president Greg Dority. “It was a huge success.”
The tournament brought in teams from as far as Wilson County and Virginia and Dority said Washington drew a good response from its visitors.
“The weekend far surpassed our expectations,” Dority said. “The feedback we have received is overwhelmingly positive. The Virginia teams and those who traveled spoke very positive about the Washington waterfront, the Washington downtown and how nice our facilities were. A lot of complexes are closed in and cramped but (the Susiegray McConnell Sports Complex) has lots of space, a lot of shade trees and easy access to downtown. I was very pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming number of favorable responses. The question I got most was ‘why don’t we have more tournaments here?’”
Dority said the day was filled with great team and individual efforts.
“We had three home runs hit during the tournament. One was hit by a local girl, Kendall Alligood. I saw that one myself, the ball must have traveled about 205 to 210 feet,” Dority said. “We had some strong pitching. On the Carolina Dirt Devils 96 team there were two very strong pitchers, Kelsey Lang and Lawson Perry … Perry pitched the championship game for them and has a great changeup … The two are just a dynamite combination.
“In the 10U Haylee Simpkins, a girl from Washington, is the (Lady Pilots) ace pitcher and she was strong.”
Due to its initial success the tournament appears like it will become a fixture in Washington.
“It looks like this will be a regular event on the travel ball schedule,” Dority said. “And it I think there is a possibility of adding more tournaments … If we can add a fifth field into play, which we have at the complex, we can expect for next year’s tournament to have 30 to 35 teams.”