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Santa Fe girls win it all

Team0349 Although thousands of people flocked to the city of Alachua from all over the United States for the Babe Ruth 12U World Series, the local team took home the title Saturday.

The Santa Fe Babe Ruth girl's softball team beat out a team from Brusly, LA 8-1 in the six-inning championship game.

Clouds and rain loomed overhead at the start of the game, but the sun poked through for the remainder of the showdown, holding off until the awards ceremony.

Santa Fe lagged behind 0-1 with no scores until the 4th inning. However, after its first score, Santa Fe went on a batting streak and never looked back.

As the crowd screamed and cheered for the players, Santa Fe's pitchers threw strike after strike, and the other players caught ball after ball to solidify the win.

In its other World Series games, Santa Fe beat Oviedo, Fla. 6-1; Hamilton, NJ 5-0; Graceland, IN 10-5; Monadnock, NH 10-2; Lodi, CA 10-0; and Othello, WA 6-3.

During the awards ceremony, Santa Fe pitcher Lauren Riley was named Most Valuable Player.

Alachua Recreation Director Hal Brady said that this was not only a big win for the team, but it was also a big win for Alachua.

“It takes everything right to win this,” he said, “and I guess we got something right. This is spectacular for the girls. What was even more amazing though was the warmth our community showed to the other teams. I personally think we showed everyone what Alachua has to offer.”

Brady said the visitors and World Series organizers were impressed with the amount of work Alachua put into its recreation center.

“They thought this was the best venue they could have picked for the World Series,” he said. “They thought it was amazing we put all this out for the girls, when cities usually do a lot more work for the boys teams.”

In recent months, the city renovated Alachua's Hal Brady Recreation Center, including everything from paving the parking lot to adding new fencing, in anticipation of the tournament, which was expected to bring in millions of dollars for the local economy.

To host the tournament, cities must pay $40,000 on top of other preparation costs. The costs are actually the responsibility of the host organization, which is the Santa Fe Babe Ruth program.

However, the City of Alachua, the Alachua Chamber of Commerce, the Gainesville Sports Commission, Walmart, Sysco, Dollar General, Santa Fe Ford, SunState Federal Credit Union, Gator Dominos, and other organizations provided financial and in-kind support for the tournament.