By Marla Jones, Sports Editor
MILLBROOK, Ala.—The Bama AllStars 10U team defeated the 10U Electrics,13 - 5 to win the 10U All Star State Championship this past weekend and proved that girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice, but they can be just as tough as the boys.
The Bama AllStars 10U started their day at 11:30 a.m. facing Oxford. They won that game 5-0. After several games ran over in time, the girls hit the field again at 5:30 p.m., facing Holtsville. The Bama Allstars bested Holtsville 17 - 0 to advance to the next game in the series against Eclectic.
Once again, delays held up tournament play. The game was supposed to start at 7 p.m., bu the girls took the field at 8:45 p.m. for a back-and-forth game against Eclectic. The score was tied 5 - 5 with a runner on first and second, with only one out. A Bama player hit to right field, bringing home the runner on second to win the game 6 - 5.
“The girls were really worn out by now due to playing in the heat,” said Head Coach Billy Jones. “At one point the heat index was 109 degrees. As coaches, we had to make sure that the girls were drinking plenty of water and staying as cool as possible.”
This win put the Bama AllStars into the winner's bracket, which meant they had to wait until the loser bracket was finished to see who they would face in the championship game. Whoever the opponent, they would have to beat the Bama AllStars twice to win.
Finally, at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Bama AllStars took the field for the fourth time to face Eclectic. Eclectic defeated Bama 19-0.
“I don’t know what happened to our girls,” said Coach Billy Jones.
“I was thinking to myself the girls have played too hard and too long and are giving up. After the first game of the championship series, we had about 20 minutes to give the girls a pep talk and get them ready to play ball,” said Jones.
At 2:30 a.m., after over 14 hours on the field, the girls stepped back on the field to play Eclectic. Bama would defeat Eclectic 13 - 5 and became the 2016 10U All Star State Champions and came home with the diamond ring.
“I don’t know what got into my girls,” said Jones on the win.
The Bama AllStars 10U will travel to Gulf Shores at the end of July to play in the 2016 10U All Star Nationals World Series.
“We couldn't be more proud of these girls,” said Jones, “they play great together as a team and never give up!”
Southern Torch will be following the girls as they head to the World Series in Gulf Shores. We wish them the best of luck!
