Elite earn attention of LJ City Council
By Joel Luna
The Facts
Published June 30, 2007
LAKE JACKSON — The Lake Jackson Elite 8U softball team’s midseason turnaround turned into a recent second-place finish at the American Softball Association’s South State Championship.
The June 1-3 tournament at Wayne Gray Sports Complex in Baytown had 61 teams in competition.
In the championship, the Pearland Power beat the Elite, 8-1, to capture the state crown.
For the Elite, however, it was quite an accomplishment.
“The team played awesome and it’s the farthest that a Lake Jackson Pixie 2 team has ever gone,” Elite manager Sherry Dunn said. “They finished second out of 61 teams in state and that is a big deal for this age group.”
At the two-day tournament, Lake Jackson defeated the Nederland Bulldogs (20-0), La Marque Texas Heat (12-6), Clute Texas Heat (7-0), Pearland Force (8-1) and League City Havoc (8-6) before suffering its first loss 11-5 to the Pearland Power.
After beating the Nederland Magic 10-6, the Elite reached the championship game.
For finishing as runners-up the Lake Jackson Elite team members received silver medals. On June 18, the team received an honorary proclamation from Lake Jackson City Council deeming the day “The Lake Jackson Elite Pixie 2-8U Girls Softball Team Day.”
Overall, the Elite finished its season 35-9, losing only two games after a 15-7 start.
“The girls just started jelling together at some point before district play,” Dunn said. “All of the girls were from the Lake Jackson area except one who was from West Columbia.”
Another thing that helped the squad succeed were the team members’ batting averages. Michaela Ausman finished with a .909 batting average, Taylor Friedrichs at .857 and Abby Rios at .824. Others with impressive averages were Macy Mobley (.733), Cassidy Vavra (.770), Haley Dunn (.770), Mallory Sanchez (.643), Lindsey Jimenez (.600), Laci Hambalek (.625), Ragan Miller (.667), Amber Dow (.700), Amy Villarreal (.667) and Elisa Casas (.500).
“All of our players were 8 years old except one who was 7, but they listened well and practiced well,” Dunn said. “They hung in there and came back and won numerous games. We kept hoping to face that Pearland team in several tournaments that we played in, but never had the opportunity. They usually win the state tournament every year and they beat us for another championship this year.”
To begin the season in late April, the Elite placed fifth of 11 teams at the Lake Jackson Spring Classic. Then they finished third at the Alvin Texas Attack Cinco De Mayo tournament of 16 squads and fourth at the District 27 Tournament in Angleton out of 20 teams.
The Elite finished the year with back-to-back first-place medals at the Pearland All-Star Tune-up and at the Sugar Land Heat Memorial Day Bash.
“All of the coaches would like to thank the girls for their hard work and never giving up,” Dunn said. “It was one of the greatest experiences we could ask for to coach such a great group of girls.”
Joel Luna is a sports writer for The Facts. He can be reached at (979) 237-0161.
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