In early tournament action 8U Texas Glory Blue infielder Abbie Orrick chased down a fly ball behind third base, running behind her teammate before diving to make a spectacular catch.


By Jim McCurdy Coppell, TX. --- Jimmy Middlebrook's team is built on


defense. Next season, his Texas Glory Blue will have a lot to defend. Including the Virtual Tournament Director World Series


title -- an honor his 8-under girls team claimed by virtue of winning this year's championship July 27-31 in Coppell, Texas. Texas Glory beat Texas Shock, 14-6, in the championship game to win its fifth tournament of the season. "We've come a long ways since the spring since we got back on the field from last year," Middlebrook said. Based out of Mesquite, Texas Glory went 6-1 in the VTD


World Series, a premier sanctioned event in the Lone Star state. After losing 9-7 to the Shock in the semifinals, the Glory bounced back in resounding fashion to win the title. The Shock, a club from Mansfield, Texas, needed to beat Glory twice on championship Sunday to win the title. But after No. 2 hitter Audrey Fenn belted a two-run


home run to trigger a five-run first inning, the Glory wasn't about to take its foot off the pedal. "That kind of set the tone," Middlebrook said of his team's first inning power surge. Texas Glory added six more runs in the third to essentially put the game away. "That kind of separated us from them," Middlebrook said. Kylie Lathers went 2 for 3 with an RBI and scored three


runs for the Glory in the title game. In the 9-7 loss earlier that day, Glory shortstop Abbie


Orrick was 2 for 2 with two runs scored, while making some excellent defensive plays in the field. On one play, she chased down a fly ball behind third base, running behind her teammate before diving to make a spectacular catch.


"It was pretty amazing to see a 9-year-old make


that play." Middlebrook said. Girls must be eight or younger before January 1


to be eligible to compete at the 8U level, which was the case for Orrick. Texas Glory first baseman Jessie Camacho,


the team's clean-up hitter, doubled in the first inning, and put a heavy swing on the ball in each of her plate appearances in the loss to the Shock. Camacho also made some nifty stretches at first base to nab a few runners on close plays. "I think she made every play all weekend," Middlebrook said of his first baseman's defensive efforts. Shock


shortstop Mia


Greenvweig was equally impressive in the field. Greenvweig made four diving stops to take away hits from the Glory, and didn't commit an error. She also ripped two doubles and scored twice. "She probably had the game of her life," Middlebrook said of Greenvweig. The Shock scored five runs in the second inning after the


Glory put three runs on the board in the first. Texas Glory scored one in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth. But after scoring twice in the third, the Shock tacked on a pair of late insurance runs to force another game. "That game was pretty intense," Middlebrook said. "Our


girls have a high level of confidence, kind of a swagger about them. I know they were pretty pumped up after beating us. Our girls were like, 'We're just gonna go out there and put it to 'em.' After we scored those five runs in the first inning, that game was pretty much over."


Texas Glory beat


Texas Shock three times in the World Series, the first a 3- 2 win to send the Mesquite club on to championship Sunday unscathed. Texas Glory's Simonne Sanders led off the game with a single. She stoled second and third base before scoring on Fenn's RBI double. Orrick doubled home Fenn to give the Glory a two-run lead. The Shock scored one in the fourth and one in the fifth, but the Glory tacked on what proved to be the game winning run in the fourth. "Obviously, it felt pretty good to be undefeated up to


that point, and know you're going to the championship game the next day," Middlebrook said. "We felt we could've done some things to open it up a little bit more. Our defense was phenomenal. We made the plays. The way we looked at it was we won that game, we were undefeated going to the championship game the next day, and our defense was top notch, at its best." Texas Glory outscored their opponents, 86-26, in the


World Series. They put the finishing touches on a season that saw the Glory win 60 of its 74 games. Texas Glory, which won the USSSA World Series July 9-10 in Moore, Okla., won five of the eight tournaments it competed in during the season. In the other three, Glory finished second. Texas Glory won three tournaments in July, including an event in Mesquite July 16-17. "Pretty good season," Middlebrook chuckled, adding


his team will move up to 10U in the fall. "We feel like we have the best team in the area to do it. "It's got to the point they just shut teams down. Every tournament we go to, we feel like we're the best defensive team. There's no question about that. We're dangerous late on Sundays, and that's because of how well-conditioned we are." Texas Glory's parents are active in providing extra one-


on-one support for their daughters, taking them to extra training sessions on the side -- a nice luxury for Middlebrook. "It's a special group of parents," he said. "It's very great to work with a great group of people like that." Of course, the girls aren't too bad either. "They don't worry about what name is on the other


Texas Glory Blue beat Texas Shock, 14-6, in the championship game to win its fifth tournament of the season.


jersey," Middlebrook said. "They're not scared to play anybody, anytime, anywhere."


19


Softball Today • August 2011


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