Southampton Storm 14U took second place in the Gold Bracket at the 2012 Softball Nation Easter Special in Richmond on Saturday.

The Tidewater Opener tournament hosted nine teams in the 14U age divisions. Southampton Storm 14U competed against the Virginia Chaos White and Lake Country Crushers in pool play, ending pool play in the Gold Bracket.

The Storm had to play against the overall No. 1 seed, Richmond Avalanche, and the other No. 1 seed, Rockbridge Crush, to make it to the championship game late in the day. Southampton Storm played a competitive game against a good Lake Country Crushers team, losing 6-4.

“Our girls had to play through adversity today,” Storm head coach Sean Wade said. “They had to play three back-to-back games to avoid elimination, and then had to play two back-to-back games to end the day. They were tired, they were hungry, but they never gave up. Their grit and determination and the hard work in the offseason has paid off. I am anticipating a great season with this special group of young ladies.”

The 14U team plays its next tournament April 21-22 in Charlottesville.

The Southampton Storm 12U team also played in the Easter Special, going 3-1 for the day and losing in the semi-finals to the Virginia Edge.

Southampton Storm Fastpitch is a local travel team organization that has three teams competing in Softball Nation, NSA and USSSA tournaments. The teams are made up of local fastpitch players from Franklin, Southampton County, Prince George County, Dinwiddie County, Sussex County, Isle of Wight County and Suffolk.