Breaking: SF girls win it all: World Series Championship

UPDATED Aug. 14, 2010:  

The Santa Fe Bab Ruth softball team has won the world series by defeating the Southwest Regional Champions from Brusly, Louisiana 8 -1.

Championship Game Photo Gallery I  and  Championship Game Photo Gallery II

It's Santa Fe versus Brusly in Championship Game

[PHOTO GALLERY] The Santa Fe Babe Ruth softball team has pulled out another win, its fifth in the World Series so far.  In a 10 a.m. game Friday against Hamilton, New Jersey, Santa Fe put up five runs and held New Jersey to none.  That win puts the girls into the final championship game on Saturday. 

Santa Fe will face off against the Southwest Regional Champions from Brusly, Louisiana, on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the Babe Ruth World Series Championship game.

Santa Fe girls perfect so far

 Less than a week into the Babe Ruth Softball 12U World Series tournament the local Santa Fe team had already racked up four wins by Tuesday night.

Earl Findley, coach of the team and president of the Santa Fe Babe Ruth Softball League said he’s proud of the 15 girls on his team.

“The kids are playing their hearts out,” Findley said, noting that the closest game they had was in their first of the tournament with a 6-3 win against a team from Othello, Washington.

Santa Fe’s other games include a 10-0 win against Lodi, California, a 10-2 win against Monadnock, New Hampshire, and a Tuesday evening win of 10-5 against Graceland, Indiana.

In the sixth inning of the Tuesday evening game, Santa Fe was locked 4-4 with the Graceland team forcing the game into a seventh inning.

“In the seventh inning, the girls just started knocking them in, and we had six more runs in that inning alone,” said Findley.

The World Series marked the first time the Santa Fe team has competed in nearly three months, he said.  The team was not permitted to play in district or regional tournaments because they are the host for the World Series event.  The team had a regular season record of 17-0.  Despite not playing competitively for months, Findley said the girls still practiced 2-3 days each week leading up to the tournament.

Although pleased with his team’s performance, Findley said the competition the rest of the series should be quite tough.

“The girls have to keep playing their game,” he added.

On Thursday at noon, Santa Fe will face the winner of a Wednesday evening game between Oviedo, Florida and Lodi, California.

Visiting teams welcomed

With the influx of nine softball teams from around the United States, local families and churches stepped up to the plate to host the girls and give them a home during the Babe Ruth 12U World Series. 

Mark Spradley, Student Pastor at Forest Grove Baptist Church, said families from his church took in two teams of softball players.

“The experience has been amazing, especially for the middle-aged and senior adults.

“It’s given them a whole new outlook on the younger generation and they have just fallen in love with these girls and their teams” said Spradley.

Families of the Forest Grove Baptist Church are hosting a total of 26 girls, 12 from a Brusly, Louisiana team and 14 from a Hamilton, New Jersey team.

Aside from giving the players a place to sleep, the families and church have also fed the players, gone out to cheer them on at their games and help them find activities to fill in their downtime.

The church took the Brusly team to tour the University of Florida softball stadium and facilities.  While there, they met with an assistant coach of the team who demonstrated a few of the practice routines the Gator softball players follow.  The trip wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to Florida Field and a tour of the suites at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium surrounding ‘The Swamp.”

Spradley said as hosts, his church wants the teams to experience the entire community including local sights and restaurants.

Well into the series, Alachua Recreation Director Hal Brady said the tournament has been on track and running well.

“Kevin LaCoste and the entire Santa Fe Babe Ruth Baseball organization have done an excellent job with 30 or more on the grounds crew keeping the field maintained and clean,” Brady said.

The last game in the series is slated to air on Cox Communications at 2:06 p.m. on Saturday unless the loser of the game before wins, in which case a second game would be required at 5:36 p.m. 

For complete updates and game scores, visit Santafesoftball.org