The Salem 8-and-under softball team known as “Overdrive” kicked into gear at the SardisFest tournament. The 3-day tournament began Friday, April 3, with pool play and the brackets were set in place and games began Saturday afternoon.
Overdrive started strong Friday night with an 11-2 victory. They followed that up with an early morning Saturday defeat 5-6 to the “Haze” team from Landmark. Instead of wilting away after the defeat, Overdrive used it as a motivation as they faced the Haze again that afternoon. Another hard-fought contest ended this time in a 13-11 Overdrive victory which propelled them to the semi-finals on Sunday afternoon. The team continued their rally as they won that game and it was off to the finals. Sunday afternoon, playing the second of back-to-back games, the Overdrive took the tournament by defeating the Stuttgart Wild Cats 13-10.[more]
“Towards the end of the last game the trophy was brought out and we all made sure the girls saw it and we told them if they wanted it they were going to have to play for it,” said team representative Kimberly Wells. “Given the size of the trophy, most of the girls' eyes lit up and they let it all go.”
The team trophy stood six feet all; a huge tournament win deserves a huge trophy.
Overdrive includes Camryn Bolton (catcher), Misty Wells (pitcher), Hallie Beth Norman (1st base), Abbi Davis (2nd base), Jess Hall (short stop), Jacque Moody (right field), Bethany Gammill (3rd base), Natalie Keen (center field), Zanyah Ailsworth (3rd base), Gabbie Bonnevain (center field), and Selena Aguilar (left field).
The team would also like to thank Holly Gamble for filling in the first two games.
The head coach is Mike Norman with the assistants being Jay Bolton, David Moody, Bubba Gammill and Nekeya Ailsworth.
