Submitted by Suzanne Hunt

The Suwannee eight and under girls softball team won the District Four Babe Ruth Championship in a clean sweep during the Fourth of July weekend. The tournament was set up in a pool play format which had the teams play for seed on the first day of the tournament. Suwannee defeated Sante Fe 14-5 while Union County forfeited their seed game giving Suwannee the #1 seed going into the tournament.

Sante Fe started off with their first two batters scoring, but Suwannee answered back in the second inning with a single by Brianna Santerfeit, a triple by Shelby Wadford, and hits by Morgan Loadholtz and Chasity Thomas bringing the score to 4-2.

Suwannee held Sante Fe scoreless for the next three innings. Caitlyn Hunt charged up the offense with a home run in the third with Brianna Santerfeit hitting a triple in the fourth.

The Suwannee bats exploded in the sixth inning with base hits by Caitlyn Hunt, Shayla Kicklighter, Chrissy Traydon, Haejin Choe and Brianna Santerfeit. Morgan Loadholtz and Brooke Wainwright scored off Brooke’s triple. Dallas Smith got an RBI when she hit Daycia Brady in for the final run of the game. Haejin Choe was awarded the game ball for catching a tough fly ball at first.

Following Sante Fe’s win over Union County, Suwannee faced Sante Fe for the second time. Sante Fe had beaten Suwannee 5-2 in an earlier tournament, so the Suwannee Stars knew they had to play their best and they did. They took Sante Fe 12-1 with the only Sante Fe run coming in the first inning by Karen Lopez.

Caitlyn Hunt started things off with a triple and then scored off Shayla Kicklighter’s hit to second. Brianna Santerfeit and Shelby Wadford hit triples in the fourth. Shelby Wadford scored off Brooke Wainwright’s home run.

The game was completed in four innings when Brooke Wainwright and Dallas Smith hit triples, Ruby Segura got on base with a great bunt that also scored Dallas Smith. Daycia Brady got a base hit and scored off Caitlyn Hunt’s double. Shayla Kicklighter got an RBI with Caitlyn Hunt scoring the winning run of the game with a final score of 12-1.

Shayla Kicklighter was awarded the game ball for tagging out the runner on a great throw from first to third from Haejin Choe.

The championship game was a nail-biter with no score going into the third inning. Dallas Smith hit a triple and scored off Ruby Segura’s base hit. Suwannee held their opponent scoreless until the fifth inning, but Suwannee’s bats were hot in the 4th inning as Haejin Choe, Brianna Santerfeit, Shelby Wadford, Morgan Loadholtz and Shyla Hollan all scored and continued in into the fifth inning as Shyla Hollan scored the final run in the championship game off a great hit by Chasity Thomas. Chasity was awarded the game ball for hitting in the winning run. The final score was 14-4 making Suwannee the District Champs and advancing them to the Babe Ruth State Tournament later in the month. Following the tournament, Coach Suzanne Hunt invited the Stars to a pizza and pool party despite receiving the traditional coach’s ice water dousing following their big win! The team, coaches and parents appreciate the support of our many sponsors.