Southern Shock 16-and-under softball team went 7-2 at the Battle of the Beach tournament.
The Laurinburg-based team finished runner-up at the WFC Battle at the Beach Tournament to complete a season that saw the team finish 45-20-1 in 11 tournaments.
"In our first year playing 16-and-under. I never dreamed that we would've been as successful as we were," said Shock coach Charles Britt. "One of the main goals for moving the girls up was to help them develop their skills and be a feeder program of sorts for Scotland High."
On Saturday, the Shock breezed through their pool play division.
In the first game, a Shae Barnes steal of home plate was all that they would need, knocking off the Carolina Shockers, 1-0.
The Shock improved to 2-0 in qualifying rounds with a 2-0 win over the Blue Ridge Explosion.
Bracket play did not start off the way the Shock would've like as they fell to the Carolina Titans, 9-3, dropping them into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
Taking on the Intimidators in a win-or-go home scenario, the Shock lived to fight another game with a 6-3 win, and improved them to 3-1 after the first day of the tourney.
The Shock took care of business early Sunday morning by eliminating the Florence Fusion, 7-1.
After the morning win, the Shock needed three wins to solidify a spot in the tournament championship, and they completed the trifecta.
First, the Shock played the Palmetto Rage and completed phase one of their mission, 9-1.
Following the win, they would douse the Carolina Flames, 7-4, setting up a must-win situation with the Carolina Titans, who knocked them into the loser's bracket a day earlier.
The Shock gained a measure of retribution against the Titans, putting an end to their title hopes with a 5-2 win and were now just two wins away from a tourney title.
"Like we have in tourneys before, we got ourselves into the loser's bracket and had to play at least five games or so," said Britt of the turnaround between games. "By the time one game ends and you walk off the field, your about to play again. The games are back-to-back for the girls to just make it to the championship."
After working hard all day, playing their way through the loser's bracket, just one thing stood in the way of the Shock's title hopes: the undefeated Carolina Fire.
The Shock jumped out to a 4-2 lead before the Fire tied the game at four after four innings.
Carolina proved to be too hot for the Shock to handle as a player from Fire smashed a two-run homer to go up 6-4. The Fire would go on to win the championship by that same total.
"With this being our first season in that age group, I thought the girls did an outstanding job," Britt said. "The girls fought hard all season."
During the nine games in the tournament, the Shock (7-2) relied on the arms of Kayla Wright and Brianna Skipper, who both play for Marlboro County. Wright also did her part at the plate, belting three home runs, over the fence.
Catcher Sarah Leviner of Scotland High was behind the plate for all of those games.
Other members of the Shock are Whitney Britt, Lindsey Wright, Courtney Collins, Paige Butler, Peaches Mishue, Lauren Medlin, Sarah Cross and Barnes, all from Scotland.
Along with those players were Jessica Crist from Jack Britt and Jennifer Vigo from Pine Forest.
Coaches for the Shock along with Britt are David Collins and Joey Wright.
Being able to get a group of girls together from Scotland County and the surrounding counties, was a vision that Britt started when these girls were younger, playing in the 12-and-under division. While he is happy with the success, there was another reason behind his vision.
"I am happy with the girls success," Britt. "But the main vision was to give the girls something to do, to keep them off the streets."
For the season, the Shock outscored their opponents, 257-168, over 66 games.
The team would like to personally thank Mr. Mike Odom for his support of them throughout the season.
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