Dec. 9, 2006 — Juanita Gardine Elementary took the championship of the first elementary school girls' softball tournament, held over the weekend at the Renholt Jackson sports complex.
They won by defeating Ricardo Richards Elementary 9-6 in extra innings. Shaqunda Mills of Gardine struck out six batters in picking up the win, while Nadesha Douglas struck out 12 in a losing effort.
Gardine had led 6-3 going into the sixth and final inning, but Richards rallied to tie, then placed the winning run on third with only one out. Mills got the next two hitters to line out, however, forcing extra innings.
In a tournament geared more toward teaching the girls the game than winning, the game offered excitement form start to finish. It was just about impossible for the statistician to keep up with the girls, so she concentrated more on runs and strikeouts. Even though almost all the runs in the game were unearned, it was still exciting to watch the girls — who ranged in age from eight to 12 — chase down errant throws, run the bases wildly and, at the same time, learn fundamentals of the game from their respective coaches and the umpire. For almost every mistake the players made, someone would correct them and show them how or what they should do differently.
Batting first, Gardine came up with one run to take the early lead. Richards came up empty in the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the second, Gardine came up with another run to extend their lead to 2-0, and again Richards failed to score in the bottom of the inning.
Richards finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with one run after Gardine failed to score in the top of the inning. As a result, they trailed 2-1 after three complete innings.
Gardine plated two runs in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to three runs at 4-1, but Richards rallied in the bottom of the inning for two runs to trail 4-3 at the end of four.
Gardine was back on the attack in the top of the fifth. They came up with two more runs to extend their lead to 6-3 heading into the sixth and final inning after Richards failed to score in the bottom of the inning.
After Gardine failed to score in the top of the sixth, Richards rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at six, and the game went into extra innings.
In the top of the seventh, Gardine erupted for three runs to take a 9-6 lead, bringing them within three outs of the championship. Richards obliged by going down in order, with two of the outs recorded by slick-fielding pitcher Mills.
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