Lady Tides finish second in national tournament

Published 8:04 pm Friday, August 6, 2010

The Tidewater Lady Tides finished with an 8-2 record and as tournament runners-up in the 14U Softball Nation Nationals last Thursday-Sunday in Virginia Beach.

The run of 10 games in four days started with the Lady Tides going undefeated through pool play and being the No. 1 seed in their bracket going into tournament play.

On Saturday, the Lady Tides won their first game before dropping a tough, defensive battle, 2-1, to the Galaxy.

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The Lady Tides shut out three of their first six opponents, but the loss meant the Lady Tides would have to fight their way to the championship game by winning three straight games in Sunday’s 100-degree heat.

The Lady Tides did just that, winning the three elimination games by scores of 4-0, 6-4 and 5-0 with only 15 minutes of rest between games. Although the girls played hard all day, they ran out of gas in the championship game.

The Lady Tides have two second-year 14U players, eight first-year 14U girls and five players who have moved up early from the 12U age group. The team’s coached by Nicole Belote of Suffolk.

Pitchers Sydney Wash and Devin Coyne and infielder/catcher Macy Mears were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Softball Nation Nationals. The Suffolk players on the Lady Tides are Martinece Robertson and Wash, who go to King’s Fork Middle School, Brittney Raynor, a KF High student, and Mears, who goes to Nansemond-Suffolk.

Addy Brooks, Taylor Dezern, Brooke Draper, Hannah Rogers, Ashlyn Applewhite, Courtney Wilson, Jamie Carroll, Maddy Armentrout, Sarah Manugo, Tyler Geissinger and Coyne are from Chesapeake.

The Lady Tides will finish their successful season with their last tournament of the summer this weekend at the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Classic.