WR softball players have home-field edge

Warner Robins is back in the regionals, and this time the area’s best 11- and 12-year-old softball players don’t even have to leave home.

For the first time, the Little League Softball Southeastern Region Tournament will be held in Houston County. Warner Robins American, the defending region and World Series champions, begins pool play at 1 p.m. on Thursday against Blue Ridge Little League from Greer, S.C.

With five returning players, WRALL went through district and state competition undefeated. Returning players are Avery Lamb, Ashley Killebrew, Sierra Stella, Melissa Cox and Chelsea Whaley.

Emily Whaley, who was the manager last year when the team won the World Series, is watching from the other side of the fence this year as her daughter Chelsea tries to repeat.

Emily Whaley said she still gets nervous before the games.

“I want them to win, I just don’t feel responsible,” she said with a laugh.

One observation she made is that this team seems much quieter than last year’s group. She said the champions were pretty rowdy.

“It’s such a different team,” Whaley said.

She said the girls from a year ago have all matured, not only in how they play softball but also physically. Chelsea Whaley has grown more than six inches in a year.

This year’s team will have to focus a bit more on reducing errors to make another run at the World Series. During the state championship against Baldwin County Little League, WRALL committed four uncharacteristic errors, including dropped balls and bad throws. The seven runs scored by Baldwin County were the most an opponent has scored this postseason.

WRALL coach Bobby Killebrew said after the state championship that the team would work on fundamentals leading up to the regional.

“Hitting, fielding and pitching,” Killebrew said.

Hitting hasn’t been a problem, and the bats for Warner Robins don’t seem to be slowing down at all. WRALL has outscored its opponents 91-9 so far in the district and state tournaments. Most of those runs have been scored through consistent singles. None of the girls hit a ball out of the park during the state tournament.

The girls have also stayed busy raising money to help pay for travel expenses. The league pays for the team’s expenses, but support personnel must pay their own way.

Killebrew knows how much it costs to win a championship and have support at all the games. He said he spent more than $2,500 for his family to get to Oregon for the World Series last year, not including missed work time.

“This was a long haul,” Killebrew said of the team’s week-long stay in Elberton for the state tournament.

At least the Southeastern Region Tournament is in the team’s back yard. Visible from the WRALL fields at the Flint Energies Sports Complex, the roofline of Little League Southeast Park has been a visible reminder all season of the team’s ultimate goal.

The team knows how special it is to be playing for the first time in that stadium.

“It feels pretty good to be playing at the new field in Warner Robins,” said Lamb, who pitched a complete game and earned the victory in the state championship.

Killebrew, however, is keeping his focus on the first game against South Carolina.

“It’s now one game at a time,” he said.

To contact Angela Woolen, call 923-5650.