Meet the eight state champions that played in the
2009 Little League Softball Southeastern Regional

ALABAMA - Phenix City Fast Pitch Little League (Phenix City, AL)
FLORIDA - Windermere Little League (Windermere, FL)
GEORGIA - Warner Robins American Little League (Warner Robins, GA)
NORTH CAROLINA - Canton Little League (Canton, NC)
SOUTH CAROLINA - Up-State Little League (Greenville County, SC)
TENNESSEE - Northwest Little League (Clarksville, TN)
VIRGINIA - McLean Little League (McLean, VA)
WEST VIRGINIA - Wayne Little League (Wayne, WV)

Georgia Reigns at the 2009 Little League Softball Southeastern Regional

Despite more than 6 inches of rain falling during the course of the tournament, the 2009 Little League Softball Tournament pushed onward with the squad from Warner Robins American Little League in Georgia emerging undefeated from the strong tournament field.  They would go on to win the Little League Softball World Series Championship in Portland, Oregon.

On Wednesday, July 29th, eight state champions go their first opportunity to "Stop, Look, and Listen" at Mitch Stadium. Coach Shonda Stanton, former coach of the Akron Racers National Pro Fastpitch team and current coach at Marshall University, greeted teams and had a special message for all the participants. Following a parade through the towns of Ceredo and Kenova, the player got together for some food and a swim at Dreamland Pool.

Opening ceremonies were held Thursday morning, which included a presentation of teams, and mothers in attendance were acknowledged for all the work that they do and were presented roses by their children. A live rendition of the national anthem was performed, followed by the ceremonial first pitch by Casey Jo Crawford, the first former Ceredo-Kenova Little Leaguer to ever receive a college softball scholarship.

The 2009 Little League Softball Southeastern Regional Tournament saw history made, defensive plays, and sporadic rain throughout day 1 of pool play. Three separate rain delays during the day totaling about three hours affected every game on the schedule. The final scheduled game between Virginia and West Virginia was postponed until Sunday at noon because there was not enough time remaining before curfew to guarantee a full six innings of regulation could be played.

Despite trailing all game, the state champions from South Carolina rallied with four runs in the sixth inning to claim a 6-4 victory over Tennessee in the first softball game ever at Mitch Stadium. Tennessee powered their way to a 4-1 to lead thanks in part to their third through fifth hitters in the lineup (Largin, Poindexter, and Cross) who hit a combined 7-for-10. However, South Carolina responded with a run in the fifth, and Lyndsey Duncan's game changing hit brought in 2 runs to propel South Carolina to victory.

In the second game of the day, Georgia took a 10-1 victory over North Carolina. Georgia's second baseman Caitlin Parker had a big day in the field with two amazing diving catches among her four putouts, and also went 1-for-3 at the plate with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Sabrina Doucette and Carson Carriker each added two hits apiece for the team from The Peach State while Syndey Barker threw all six innings from the circle for the win. For North Carolina, KJ Willis and Callie Kuykendall combined for four of their team's six hits.

In the final game of the day, Florida posted 11 hits in their 8-3 victory over Alabama. Sabrina Stutsman went 3-for-4 from the plate with 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored. Kelsey Morrison and Mary-Sloan Bradford also had two hits each for Florida. Alabama's Allie Kelley pitched six innings and went 1-for-3 from the plate. Pelkey and Bryant posted the other hits for the squad from Alabama.

According to the National Weather Service, an estimated 2.21 inches of rain fell on the Ceredo-Kenova area early Friday morning, leaving Mitch Stadium in a condition not seen in quite a long time. However, all four games scheduled for the day were played as Pool A games were played at Mitch Stadium and Pool B games were played at Marshall University's Dot Hicks Field.

The groundskeepers weren't the only ones that put in extra effort on Friday as Georgia and Florida needed extra innings to separate themselves in the first game at The Mitch. The squads from Windermere and Warner Robins played seven scoreless innings before Avery Lamb's RBI single in the top of the 8th gave Georgia the lone run of the game. Kaylee Albritton pitched 8 scoreless innings for the win. Florida posted 10 hits, including a 4-for-4 effort by Alex Paulson in the extra-inning effort.

West Virginia showed extra effort on the basepaths with 6 stolen bases and made the most of 4 South Carolina errors in a 9-1 victory. West Virginia's three pitchers held South Carolina to only 2 hits, and Jessie Rowe struck out 5 in her two innings of work. At the plate, Savannah Perry went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored.

Trailing 3-1, Tennessee's Tenesha Cross drove in two runs in the fifth inning on a clutch hit to help pace Tennessee past Virginia, 4-3. In the circle, Imani Largin allowed only 4 hits in 6 innings against Virginia, all in the third inning. Virginia's Alex Andrejev's triple in the third scored two and had given Virginia the early lead.

North Carolina made Alabama put in some extra work in the top of the sixth as the team from the Tar Heel State scored three runs - two with two down - to cut Alabama's lead to within a single run with the bases loaded before recording the final out. Angel Kilpatrick and Allie Kelley each went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI's to lead the Alabama effort. Shelby Tomassi led the way for North Carolina with 3 RBI's.

Day 3 of the 2009 Little League Softball Southeastern Regional provided some exceptional storylines. Virginia kept their regional championship hopes alive with a 9-0 shutout victory over South Carolina. McLean had numerous hitters with big days, including Sarah Ing (3-for-3), Rachel Wiener (2-for-4 with 2 runs scored), Alex Andrejev (2-for-3, 3 RBI's, 2 runs scored), and Nikki Slade (2-for-4, 2 runs scored). Virginia scaled to new heights off the field as well as six players climbed the fire engine's ladder after the game as part of the Hometown Heroes festivities.

Four Florida pitchers combined to pitch a no-hitter in their 9-0 victory over Alabama. Chabot, Bradford, Paulson, and Stutsman threw the combined no-hitter and earned their spot in the semifinals with the victory. Georgia shutout North Carolina, 3-0, to claim first-place in the pool and remain the only undefeated team in the tournament. Sydney Barker pitched five nearly flawless innings from the circle, and Kaylee Albritton provided two RBI's from the plate.

A crowd of nearly 2,000 saw a remarkable finish to the final game of the evening. Scoreless through five innings, West Virginia dented the plate 3 times in the top half of the sixth, and saw Tennessee down to their final two outs and staring down elimination. However, Erica Webster, who pitched all six innings for Tennessee, had a two run hit to pull her team to within one run. Imani Largin provided the memorable hit of the tournament so far as her two-run single propelled Tennessee to capture first place in the pool after being on the brink of elimination.

For the final game of pool play on Sunday afternoon, the winner of Virginia and West Virginia would claim the final spot in the semifinals.  In the first inning, Peyton Fetty singled and stole second before Kasey Endicott came to the plate. Endicott grounded the ball to third base, but the throw back across the infield could not be handled. Fetty never stopped running and scored all the way from second.  West Virginia carried the 1-0 lead into the sixth inning, but Virginia finally responded.  Virginia's Sarah Ing got a single to start the rally, then scored on a single to right field by Alex Andrejev. An error at first base allowed Andrejev to move to third before Michaela Wheat's groundout to second base brought her home with what proved to be the game-winning run.

In Sunday's consolation games, North Carolina scored 7 times in the first two innings to get their first win in West Virginia over South Carolina, 8-1.  West Virginia rebounded from their consecutive heart-breaking losses to defeat Alabama, 4-1.

In the first semifinal, Virginia scored a pair of runs in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead, but Georgia answered with a five-run third inning on their way to an 8-2 victory. The second semifinal saw Florida with a 5-1 lead, but had to survive a furious rally by Tennessee before holding on to warn the 5-4 victory.

Everyone expected an exciting championship game between Florida and Georgia, and the teams would not disappoint.  Georgia jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Mary-Sloan Bradford hit a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning over the left field fence to close the score to 3-2.  Georgia padded their lead with four runs in the top of the third, thanks in part to three Florida defensive errors in the inning.  Florida responded with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third, and two runs in the fourth on a double by Mary-Slone Bradford even the score at 7-7  Georgia responded to the challenge with Carson Carriker's two-run triple in the top of the fifth, and held a surging Florida offense to one run in the bottom of the inning.  heading into the bottom of the sixth with a 9-8 lead, Georgia's Sydney Barker finished off Florida with a bases loaded, two out strikeout to close the game and allow Georgia to claim the 2009 Little League Softball Southeastern Regional Championship.