Members of the Laurinburg Optimist 8-and-under All Stars are: Front: McKenzie Wilkerson, Lauren Ward, Kassee Lowe, Allison Smith. Middle: Abigail Ridge, Morgan Hatchell, Reagan Cheek, Jenna Byrd, Bree Steele, Madison Jackson, Emily Floyd, Lani Evans. Top Row: Coaches Malinda Hatchell, Richard Byrd, Gene Jackson, Ricky Ward. Not pictured Donald Lowe.
Optimist brought home first place in the silver division of the IFA travel ball tournament.
Laurinburg's opponents in the first two games comprised of teams that had been playing together for a year and it proved to be too much for them.
Despite being shutout in both games, the 8-and-under squad got great play from game MVP Abigail Ridge.
The bats would come to life in the third game of the tournament.
Led by a grand slam from Morgan Hatchell, Laurinburg cruised to a 15-3 victory over the Hot Shots.
Optimist also got two home runs from Jenna Byrd as both her and Hatchell were a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Ridge added a 2-for-3 showing at the plate.
Against the Surry Sting, a great display of both offense and defense, helped Laurinburg secure a spot in the championship game with a 14-11 win.
Kassee Lowe and Byrd turned in 4-for-4 performances to lead the way. Emily Floyd and Hatchell each went 3-for-4 while Allison Smith, who had some great defense to seal the victory, and McKenzie Wilkerson, both went 2-for-3.
Optimist brought the aluminum in the championship game against the Carolina Attitude, pounding out 17 hits in a 16-11 victory.
Byrd and Floyd both went 4-for-4 in the win while Lowe was 3-for-4.
Hatchell, who was given the game ball and awarded MVP by the umpires and Ridge, recorded 13 of the 15 outs in the ball game. Byrd received an MVP trophy for the game by the coach of the Attitude.
Byrd turned in an outstanding .857 batting average in the five games. Floyd (.667) and Hatchell (.643) both had averages over .600 while Lowe finished with a .538 clip. Ridge batted .400 for the tournament.
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