Two area softball teams are heading to Tennessee to compete in the Diamond Youth World Series.
The Hephzibah girls’ softball 12U and 15U all-star teams both won the inaugural Diamond Youth Softball State Championship and now will represent Georgia in the program’s World Series in Fairview, Tennessee, on July 18-22.
Hephzibah’s 12U and 15U girls went undefeated in the state championship held at the Burke County Recreation Department. The 10U girls also competed in the state tournament and finished runner up.
12U Coach Cam Broxton said both teams played great, especially for the limited time of preparation they had. He also said some of the girls previously played together and against each other, so the girls did already have some team chemistry.
“We only had around three weeks to prepare from the end of the regular season to the state tournament,” Broxton said. “We were chartered under Hephzibah Cal Ripken for at least seven years, and this year we switched over to Diamond Youth, so these girls have at least played together or against each other for the last four seasons.”
According to Broxton, the local community played a big part into helping the girls succeed and advance to World Series by fundraising to get trainers and collegiate professional help. Effort from the girls and time commitment also helped the girls succeed.
“We were able to do a lot of fundraising and reached out to the community and used it help pay for trainers to come in and help them build more solid fundamentals,” Broxton said. “We practiced probably more than any high school. We did two hours for three days and a lot of girls are on middle school teams, so they would leave that practice and then come to the rec practice.”
The Hephzibah girls focus now is on the World Series in Tennessee, where both the 12U and 15U teams will compete against other all-stars across the Southeast. Both the 12U and 15U World Series tournament consist of 10 teams each. For Hephzibah to be crowned, Broxton says teamwork will be the main factor to continue winning.
“If they can stay positive and work as a team, they got it all the way through. If they can do the simple and the boring stuff, they will be able to perform well under pressure and be fine.,” Broxton said.
Christopher Rickerson, an Augusta University graduate, has covered area sports for Augusta University, The Augusta Press and Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the Augusta Good News newsletter here.
