Churchville Lightning 14U wins USSSA Diamonds R 4 Ever Tournament Championship

By Jonathan Tomlinson

COLUMBIA, MD - After a tough tournament 2 weeks ago, the Churchville Lightning got back in the win column by claiming the USSSA Diamonds R 4 Ever tournament championship in Columbia, MD this past weekend. In pool play Saturday, the Lightning went 2-0 with wins over the Maryland Bay Bandits and the PA Lady Steel 08’. Picking up wins in the circle for the Lighting on Saturday was Emily Hildt with a 13-6 win over the Bay Bandits and Emma Bare with a 9-3 win over the Lady Steel 08’. The third pool play game was rained out when heavy thunderstorms halted play Saturday afternoon.

After having a first round by and the #2 seed for championship Sunday, the Lightning faced the Lady Renegades from central Pennsylvania. After a sluggish start, the bats came alive in the 3rd inning with an Alaina Torrence homerun and the Churchville Lightning went on to secure a 10-0 win in 4 innings. Taegan Spier was in the circle for the Lightning to pick up the win.

In the semi-final game, the Lady Bolts matched up against the Urbanna Rippers. The Lightning’s hot bats continued in this game. After going scoreless in the first, the Bolts scored 9 runs in the 2nd inning including a home run from Audrianna Hansen.

The Lady Bolts would score 3 more runs in the 3rd inning and take home the 12-0 win and move into the championship game. Emily Hildt pitched a great game to keep the Rippers off balance and unable to gain any traction offensively.

In the championship game, the Lightning squared off with the Panthers Select 14U from York, Pennsylvania. The Lightning struck first with a 3 run homerun in the bottom of the first inning off of the bat of Alaina Torrence.

The 3-0 lead would be short lived as the Panther Select had 6 base hits in the top of the 2nd inning and took a 5-3 lead. The 5-3 score held until the bottom of the 4th when the Lighting bats warmed up and they scored 4 runs. The Lighting would add 3 more insurance runs in the 5th inning to take a 10-5 lead into the 6th inning. Emily Hildt would make easy work in the circle in the top of the 6th inning and the Lighting would secure a 10-5 championship game. The Lady Bolts were led by Audrianna Hansen in the championship game as she had 3 hits. Billi Heinz, Emma Bare, Taegan Spier, and Alaina Torrence each contributed with 2 hits each in the game as well.

The tournament championship was a complete team effort. Everyone contributed in some way to the team going undefeated over the weekend with a 5-0 record. The Churchville Lightning 14U will be back in action in 2 weeks at the Queen of Diamonds tournament on April 29-30.