Washington 12U All-Stars pitcher perfect

Published 4:07 pm Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Washington 12U All-Stars pose for a picture after winning the ENC Babe Ruth District 6 tournament in Belhaven on Friday. The team members are: (front row, from left) Desiree Maurizzio, Emerson Davis, Summer Campbell, Blake Swanner, Abbigail Tucker, Mary Baylor Dixon, (middle row, from left) Grace Lassiter, Rebekah Williams, Devin Bunch, Haylee Simpkins, Kaitlyn Spain, (back row, from left) coaches Matt Williams, Dallis Tucker and Neal Dixon.

The Washington 12U All-Stars pose for a picture after winning the ENC Babe Ruth District 6 tournament in Belhaven on Friday. The team members are: (front row, from left) Desiree Maurizzio, Emerson Davis, Summer Campbell, Blake Swanner, Abbigail Tucker, Mary Baylor Dixon, (middle row, from left) Grace Lassiter, Rebekah Williams, Devin Bunch, Haylee Simpkins, Kaitlyn Spain, (back row, from left) coaches Matt Williams, Dallis Tucker and Neal Dixon.

BELHAVEN — Even the coaches of some of the most successful sports teams can generally find a weakness to harp on in practice to help motivate their team as it moves forward. However, after the Washington 12Us performance at the ENC Babe Ruth District 6 tournament coach Dallis Tucker is going to need a magnifying glass to find it as they approach the state tournament.
The Washington 12U All-Stars capped off a flawless week in Belhaven on Friday in impressive fashion as they downed a strong East Beaufort squad 10-0 in four innings to win the District 6 championship.
With the win, Washington finished the tourney with a perfect 4-0 record as they shutout every opponent they faced and did not surrender a single hit throughout the tournament.
“We were very fortunate to have strong pitching all week, which is the bread and butter of our team,” Tucker said. “When the ball was put in play (the defense) was very solid. They executed the fundamentals, which makes me very proud.”
Abbigail Tucker hurled the game winner on Friday as she pitched all four innings to get the victory, while Haylee Simpkins, Summer Campbell and Rebekah Williams, who threw a perfect game, each earned wins throughout the week and were all named co-MVPs of the tourney.
Tucker got a big boost from the offense as Washington struck for four runs in the first inning to give her a cushion. The All-Stars rallied for two runs in the second and another four in the third.
“On offense we hit the ball very solid and played small ball well,” Tucker said. “That’s the key to our game, to be able to put the ball in play and put pressure on the defense. I was very proud, even our big girls were able to bunt and we all ran very well. I was very proud of that.”
The East Beaufort All-Stars battled in the batter’s box but were only able to get two runners on base as Nikki Spencer and Alexis Carowan both drew walks. Savannah Slade pitched all four innings for East Beaufort in the loss.
East Beaufort finished the tourney with a 2-2 record and thanks to its second-place finish clinched an invite to next week’s state tournament, which will be held in Washington.
Overall, East Beaufort coach Eric Slade was proud of his team’s play.
“I thought it was a great tournament and great for the town of Belhaven,” Slade said. “Washington did a great job, that’s a great team we were playing. … We made some mental mistakes on the field but overall we played pretty good defense and our pitching was fairly good.”

Washington    424    0    —    10
East Beaufort    000    0    —    0
WP: Abbigail Tucker; LP: Savannah Slade
Hitting: W — Mary Baylor Dixon 2-2, Rebekah Williams 1-1, Kaitlyn  Spain 1-2.