By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
July 22, 2003
North Meridian Optimist battled through rain and some of the top-ranked teams in the national to finish second in the USSSA 12-Under slow-pitch softball World Series this past weekend.
The team closed out the tournament with two games on Saturday and five games on Sunday.
On Saturday, NMO took out the Diamonds Brats 19-0 to advance in the winners' bracket. Kylie Rowell pitched an extremely rare slow-pitch no-hitter to help the team advance. Rowell also had two doubles and single with two RBIs in the win.
Shelly Odom had a single and homer and four RBIs for NMO. Lainie Simcox and J'Quandra Hickman had a double and triple each.
Mindi Turnipseed had a two-run homer and Sarah Beckman had two triples, a single and three RBIs. Lindsay Lang knocked in two runs with two singles in the game.
Mallory Pace had a single and double and an RBI while Brittany Jackson had a single and triple with one RBI.
NMO moved on to face No. 1-ranked Xtreme in the tournament and fell into the losers' bracket with a 14-2 loss.
Simcox and Turnipseed each had a homer, but it was not enough to pick up the victory.
NMO bounced back to beat the Cabot Drillers in a very close 7-6 game. Turnipseed had a single, double and triple to lead the team. Pace had two singles and Hickman had an RBI double.
Simcox had a single and a double with two RBIs and Odom had a single and a triple in the victory.
NMO continued to roll with a 14-3 run-rule victory over the No. 2-ranked Georgia Outlaws.
Odom had two singles, a double and a triple with three RBIs in the win. Simcox had a single and a double.
Hickman had two doubles, a home run and four RBIs while Turnipseed had a double, home run and three RBIs.
Kasie Buckley had two singles and a run batted in and Devonna Gilmer had a single and a two-run homer.
NMO followed the victory over the Outlaws with a 14-4 win over third-ranked Kaboom. Rowell had a single, double, triple and sacrifice fly with four RBIs in the win. Buckley had three singles to knock in two runs.
Beckman had three singles and an RBI while Lang had two singles. Odom had a three-run homer and a single.
Simcox was 2-for-4 with two singles and Hickman also had two singles to knock in a run. Turnipseed had a single and solo home run in the win.
The win moved NMO into the championship game against the undefeated Xtreme. NMO came away with a 16-14 victory to force a second championship game.
Odom had an inside-the-park three-run homer and an inside-the-park grand slam to go with two singles and seven RBIs in the win.
Simcox added a single, double, triple and three RBIs. Hickman had a double and triple to knock in a run. Gilmer had two singles and a solo home run. Jackson had three singles and Lang had four singles and two RBIs in the win.
NMO, playing its fifth game on Sunday, ran out of steam in the second championship game with Xtreme and lost 17-2 to settle for the second place finish.
"I'm proud of the girls," said NMO coach Ricky Odom. "They beat all the top teams at least one time."