On August 6-7, 2011, the Roanoke based Virginia Extreme Force 10U girls fastpitch softball team traveled to Williamsburg, VA to play in the 9^th Annual NSA Busch Gardens Classic.  This is a very popular tourney and one of the largest tourneys in the state of Virginia, with teams from many neighboring states participating. 

The Force 10U girls were down to 10 players for this weekend due to vacations.  The weekend saw the Force getting just one game in on Saturday before the rain came and caused the day to be a wash out.  This meant it would take five games on Sunday for these ladies to reach the Championship game in 105 degree heat.

In the first pool game played on Saturday, the Force would square off against the Mystics Fastpitch out of North Carolina.  The Force would take an early 3-0 lead after the first inning, thanks to a single by Erin Hetherington which drove in Sydney Stimeling who walked to lead off the inning.  Kayla Gibson then drove in Erin with a double to left center.  Hannah Moore would then bring Kayla home with a single to left center.  Dakota Brookman and Hannah Green would walk to load the bases. Peyton Hurd came up and drove in a run with an infield single to finish off the first inning.  The Mystics would add two of their own in the 2^nd to trim the lead to 3-2 but the Force would no back down, and responded with three more runs which started with a leadoff walk by Taylor Loving. Sydney Stimeling would reach on a HBP, and Jordyn Wright would drive in an RBI with a sacrifice.  Erin Hetherington then followed with a triple to drive in another RBI. Kayla Gibson would finish off the runs with an RBI single of her own.  Hannah Moore would single followed by walks by Dakota Bookman and Hannah Green but were left on base to end the inning.  Peyton Hurd, Dakota Brookman, and Sydney Stimeling would all pitch an inning a piece on the way to leading to a 6-5 victory that ended on time limit after the 3^rd.. 

In the second pool game, the Force would take on the Blue Ridge Heat and the weather!  The game started in pouring rain, and was finally called in the top of the 2^nd with the Force trailing 1-0.  Saturday’s games were cancelled and the Force would return to finish pool play on Sunday morning.  As the rained out game resumed with a reduced time limit of 35 minutes, the Force found themselves getting off to a slow start trailing 6-1 after the 2^nd inning was over.  The girls would not quit and started a comeback led by Gabbi Parulis, Taylor Loving, and Sydney Stimeling who would draw walks.  Kayla Gibson sent a double to right center that drove in a run. Hannah Moore would draw a walk, and Dakota Brookman would drive in an RBI on a sacrifice.  The Force was able to come back to trim the lead to 6-4 before falling just short as time expired.

The Force would start their 2^nd game in an hour at 9:30am against a very tough Williamsburg Starz team.  Williamsburg was by far the most talented team in the tourney.  The Force would come up short in this one losing 7-0.

Bracket play began at 12:00pm, with the Force entering the first round against the West End Sliders.  This would turn into a defensive battle with pitchers from both teams keeping the score in check until the very end.  The Force would start off the game taking a 2-0 lead after the top of the 1^st, but the Sliders would come back to trim the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning.  The score would stay there until the Sliders tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 3^rd.  The Force would respond immediately by mixing small ball with key hits.  Dakota Brookman would lead off the top half of the 4^th with a single to right field.  Hannah Green then reached on a HBP. Peyton Hurd would reach on a fielders choice.  Gabbi Parulis then executed a perfect push bunt past the pitcher beating out the throw and loading the bases.  Taylor Loving then hit a single to left field to drive in a run that would give the Force a 3-2 lead.  The Force defense held the Sliders in check to keep it 3-2 going into the 5^th inning.  The Force entered the top of the inning with a single by Erin Hetherington and she would later score on a past ball for the all important insurance run to give the Force a 4-2 lead.  In the bottom of the inning with time expired, the Force defense backed up a strong pitching performance by Peyton Hurd to preserve the win and allow the Force to move onto the Semifinals.  Peyton Hurd finished the game pitching five innings giving up two hits and striking out seven. 

In the semifinals, the Force would have a rematch with the very tough Williamsburg Starz.  This time, the Force girls were determined to get revenge for their earlier loss that morning.  Behind a leadoff walk by Sydney Stimeling, single by Jordyn Wright, single and RBI by Erin Hetherington and walk by Kayla Gibson, the Force would take a 2-0 lead after the top of the 1^st.  The Starz would return the favor by evening things up at 2-2 at the end of the inning.  The score would stay that way until the 3^rd inning, when the Force  would go on to have a big 4-run inning.  Sydney Stimeling started things off with a leadoff single.  Jordyn Wright had a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Syndey to second base.  Erin Hetherington would then drive in a run with a single to right field.  Kayla Gibson would reach on a dropped 3^rd strike which allowed Erin to score on the throw to first base and then Hannah Moore then had a single to right field to drive in two more runs.   The Force took a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the 3^rd inning.  The Starz made it interesting by scoring one in the bottom half of the inning but the Force defense, led by the pitching of Peyton Hurd and big plays by Jordyn Wright in center field, Dakota Brookman at second base, Kayla Gibson at catcher, and Erin Hetherington at first base would shut down any further threat. The Starz would come up in the bottom of the 4^th with time expiring, with their number 9, 1, and 2 hitters due up. The Force defense shut them down and retired the side  in order to end the game and move on to their third championship of the season and second in the last two tournaments.  Petyon Hurd had yet another strong pitching performance, pitching all four innings, striking out five and allowing three hits as the Force gave the Starz their only loss of the tournament.

The Force would have a rematch with the Blue Ridge Heat in the Championship game, their 5^th game of the day.  The heat and long day would finally take its toll and the Force would come up short and losing this game to take Second place in the 9^th Annual Busch Gardens classic. 

This weekend was an entire team effort.  The entire team of 10 girls all performed great and every one of them had a hand in this successful weekend. Without any one of them, the success of this weekend might not have been possible. From great defensive plays, to laying down sacrifice bunts, hitting, and pitching. Everyone played a role in reaching their second straight tournament final!

The 10U Extreme Force finished the weekend 3-3 overall.  The team is comprised of ladies from Northside, Cave Spring, Hidden Valley, Glenvar, and Faith Christian Academy.