The USSSA fastpitch softball state tournament for the A and B divisions came to a close on Sunday.
Although no Columbus teams walked away with state championships, there were a handful of area teams that finished in the top ten of their divisions. Red Alert 12U-Followell placed the highest of any local team. It earned a fourth-place finish in the 12-and-under-B division with a 4-2 record for the weekend.
Red Alert 12U-Followell won its first three games before losing two of its last three. Indiana Revolution 05 from Yorktown won the 12U-B championship. Derrick Martin’s daughter Paige plays for Red Alert 12U-Followell, and said he liked the high level competition that his daughter got to compete against.
“It’s amazing,” Martin said of the competition. Versus playing for the schools and stuff, this is where it’s at. They’re so more advanced playing travel ball than they are playing school ball.”
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The Red Alert team that competed in the 14U-B division tied for fifth after posting a 5-3 record. The Red Alert Davidson team tied for ninth place with a 1-3 record in the 10U-B division. A southern Indiana team called Indiana Xtreme won the 14U-B state title and Bomb Squad 07 out of Newburgh won the 10U-B tournament.
The Columbus-based Southern Indiana Impact team placed seventh with a 2-2 record in the 18U-B division and Thunder out of Seymour placed first in that bracket. Hauser softball coach Craig Sims coached the Indiana Hustle-Sims squad that placed ninth in the 18U-A division. Indiana Hustle-Sims finished with a 1-2 record, and Sims said playing in the 18U-A division was similar to playing college level teams.
“It’s just really good softball,” Sims said. “You make one mistake or one hit with runners in scoring position and that was pretty much the ball game.”
Sims said they could have played in the 18U-B division and probably would have been one of the better teams but the A division really challenged the players, he said.
Other local teams who competed in the tournament were Indiana Nitro (16U-B), Southern Indiana Impact 04 (14U-A) and Demand Command (14U-B). Southern Indiana Impact Matern, Southern Indiana Impact 05 and Indiana Hustle 12U 06 all competed in the 12U-B division.
USSSA fastpitch softball will be back in Columbus next month for the national tournament that will start on July 17 and end on July 22.
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18-and-under-A division: Indiana Hustle-Sims (2-2) 9th place.
18U-B: Southern Indiana Impact (2-2) 7th.
16U-B: Indian Nitro (2-2) 17th.
14U-A: Southern Indiana Impact 04 (2-2) 13th.
14U-B: Demmand Command 14U (2-2) 13th.
12U-B: Red Alert 12U-Followell (4-2) 4; Southern Indiana Impact Matern (2-2) 13th; Southern Indiana Impact 05 (1-2) 25th, Indiana Hustle 12U 06 (0-3) 25th.
10U-B: Red Alert Davidson (1-3) 9th.
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