State champs! — 07/19/08

July 17, 2008 04:17 pm

— Success is nothing new for the all-stars who make up the Russell-Flatwoods 11-and-12-year- old girls softball team. In fact, the state championship they won Wednesday evening with an exciting 5-4 victory over Laurel County at the Russell-Flatwoods Complex was the second time this group of girls was the best in the state. Two years ago, they won their first state title as 9-and-10-year-olds.
And they don’t plan to quit now. The unbeaten 2008 Kentucky Little League Softball champs will now play in the regional tournament in Joplin, Mo.
The success of these girls bodes well for the future of girls softball at Russell High School. There was a time when fast-pitch girls softball was a minor sport played by only a few girls. Now Little League softball is considered a feeder program for the high school sport, and Russell High coaches likely are eagerly anticipating the time when these girls are ready to play for the Lady Red Devils.
But for now these girls plan to keep playing until they either win a national title or go down swinging. In a sport dominated by pitching, the Russell-Flatwoods girls have the combination of superb pitching, solid defense and timely hitting to do well in the regional tournament — and beyond.
We’ll be rooting for them.