Front row, left to right, Presleigh Sanders, Emma Parker, Laney Copeland, Addye Norman, Cailyn Butler and Bailee Hollis. Middle row, Tamra Yancy, JaMiah Lewis, Haylen Ayers, Ema Tanner and Reece Oliver. Back row, Coaches Shaun Hollis, Lance Tanner, Ben Parker and Greg Butler.
The Frost Falcons 8u girls softball team from Ooltewah captured the USFA World Series title at Panama City Beach.
Coach Greg Butler said, "This World Series is the highest level and best competitive event for 8u softball. They also finished the season as the number one team in 8u softball."
We are part of the Frost Falcons organization that is based out of Ooltewah, TN.
We would like to get them recognized. I have attached a pic to this email.
Team members are Presleigh Sanders, Emma Parker, Laney Copeland, Addye Norman, Cailyn Butler, Bailee Hollis, Tamra Yancy, JaMiah Lewis, Haylen Ayers, Ema Tanner and Reece Oliver.
Other coaches are Shaun Hollis, Lance Tanner and Ben Parker.
Coach Butler said, "In August of last year, this group of 11 girls set out on a mission to finish their final year of 8u as USFA World Series Champions. The road wasn’t easy, but I wouldn’t have wanted to travel it with any other group. Success doesn’t happen without dedication and hard work. Each girl worked tirelessly at practice and on their own each week to get better so they could accomplish their mission. We sought out the best 8u competition we could find to make sure these girls were battle tested and ready for the gauntlet they would face at the USFA World Series.
"We had a phenomenal fall season. We won every tournament we entered and finished as USSSA Fall World Series Champions with a final record of 35-3. The spring/summer season was also impressive. We played in 14 tournaments and made it to the championship game in every tournament. We won 11 of the 14 tournaments. These tournaments included a runner-up finish in Turf Wars, a USFA TN State Championship, a runner-up finish in the ISA World Series, and the granddaddy of them all the USFA World Series Championship. We finished with a record of 68-9-2. Our record for the year combining both seasons was 103-12-2.
"Words cannot express how proud I am of this team. Last week was an amazing experience. Memories of the week will last a lifetime! We had a record of 8-1 on the week. We played teams from Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. We made it to the winner’s bracket final before taking our first loss in a hard fought game to a great team, Ky Beast. We left the park on Friday after the loss pretty deflated. We knew if we wanted to accomplish our mission Saturday would be the gauntlet we had prepared for. These girls were battle tested and had put in the work to get to this point. They never quit and thrive under pressure. I have watched them come from behind many times in big moments. On Saturday, we won a crazy exciting game (15-14) against another great team, Pearland Venom out of Texas, to make it to the championship game against the Ky Beast. I felt like a large amount of the pressure was off and the girls played relaxed in the championship games. We jumped out to an early lead and managed to win 8-4 in the first game. In the second game, we had another early lead and the Beast tied it up at three in the second inning. After that point, the girls never looked back and scored nine unanswered runs to close out the game and win the USFA World Series Championship. This unbelievably exciting end result was a total team effort. We can officially say, Mission Accomplished.
"Thank you to coaches Shaun Hollis, Ben Parker and Lance Tanner. Your dedication and hard work did not go unnoticed. You poured your heart and soul into these girls. Thank you to the parents and grandparents for your commitment to this process which included many practices, private lessons, lots of travel and money, and most weekends at the ballpark."