Western Little League advances to region tourney

For a program that has four teams with 11 to 12 girls on a team, the Western Little League 11-12 year-old softball all-stars are having a pretty special year.

Western rolled through the state tournament and capped it with a 10-0 win Thursday night over Bartow County in Cartersville to advance to the Southeastern Regional Tournament that is held in Warner Robins.

Western Little League, the Georgia representative, will open up play at 2 p.m. on Thursday against Florida. The winner of the Southeastern Regional tournament advances to the World Series in Portland, Oregon.

“I knew that we were pretty good because most of these girls have been playing together since they were 4 or 5, but it is very special to advance and get to play in Warner Robins,” said Western head coach Dewayne Phillips, who has been making to long trip to Cartersville back to Macon to go to his job at the Macon Water Authority. “Most of these girls saw Western play in the regionals in 2012, and for a lot of them, it’s like a dream come true. I know I have always wanted to be on that field.”

The road to Warner Robins was not always easy. Western was down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth in its first game in the state tournament against Habersham County, but Emma Livingston, the youngest player on the team, started a rally and Western went on to score seven runs in the inning.

On Monday, the locals were down again, trailing 1-0 heading into the fifth, but once again, Livingston started a rally and Western scored three runs to edge Bartow County 3-1.

Western took care of business in the championship game, getting huge hits from Jordan Moss and Keely Bryant in a five-run second, and Sierra Ussery did not allow a run as Western cruised to the state championship.

“I felt pretty good about things when we got that lead because Sierra is tough to hit,” said Phillips of his ace pitcher, who allowed only three runs in four games at the state tournament. “Now, we will take a few days off and get ready for regionals.

Phillips is anxious to see how his team will handle the strong competition that he will see at the Southeastern Regional.

“I know it will be tough, but we have a team that I believe can compete with the better teams,” Phillips said. “It is really a great feeling because I have seen these girls grow up and they deserve to be playing at this level.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Western Little League advances to region tourney."