In an event hosted by the Georgia Impact (Medlam), the 97 Xtreme finished tied for 5th place in an exceptional field one week before this year's first ASA "A" Nationals Qualifier.   The Xtreme had an absolutely stellar Sunday - going 2-1 against three second year teams that won't be taking the younger team for granted the next time they play them.  It would be an overall 5th place finish in a field of 16 strong.  Scores for tournament are shown below:

The girls of the Xtreme had a rough start Friday night and struggled mightily at the annual Carrollton Classic tournament in west Ga.  It was spring break for many of the girls and it looked as though they might even forfeit their first contest Friday night because there were not enough players to field their team.  The mess that ensued after the umpires waited for enough girls to show was an embarrassing loss to Georgia Academy Red and an uninspired defeat 6-3 to the Atlanta Vipers (Miller).  As bad as Friday night was - the girls decided to make a stand on Saturday and went 2-1 over the course of three games against very good competition. 

The first contest was against a talented Georgia Academy Blue team.  The Xtreme led the entire contest 1-0 with strong pitching from Peyton Sorrells but made a few mistakes and gave the lead away in the final inning.  It took a comeback in the 6th inning but the girls of the Xtreme came away with a 3-2 vicotry. 

The second game Saturday came against a much older and more experienced 96 Vipers team.  The Atlanta Vipers (Jarvis) is widely accepted as one of the top five in the state in 14A.  Kaitlen Kelly started the game and kept the older/bigger girls off balance the entire game.  With off-speed and movement pitches, Kaitlen held the older Vipers to 0 earned runs through 6 innings.  If it weren’t for 2 unearned runs given up early the Xtreme would have come away with a 2-0 victory, but the tie forced the game into an extra inning contest that the Vipers would take advantage of.  The Vipers scored 5 runs in the top of the 7th and this would prove too much for the young team.  The team learned a lot from this game, including that they can compete with anyone in 14A. 

Saturday would culminate in a dismantling of the 96 Mustangs by a final score of 7-3.  The Xtreme frustrated the older team the entire game.  The winning pitcher again would be Peyton Sorrells, and the offense for the Ga Xtreme lit up the Mustang pitching the entire game. 

The final two games of the tournament would take place on Sunday, and pitted the Xtreme against the hard hitting Ga Force (Brown) and the Chain Lynx (White).  The Xtreme downed the Force 3-2 in the first game with the highlight of the game coming in the first inning coming from Michelle Hayden.  With a 1 & 2 count and two outs – Michelle went yard against the fireballer from the force putting the Xtreme up 2-0.  The Xtreme made ZERO errors in route to beating the Force 3-2 in an exciting 6 inning game.  The Xtreme ended the tournament 3-4, but got better and grew as team. 

This tournament was an opportunity for the team to prove themselves against some of the best in the state, and they did just that.  This team will continue developing and will be a tough test in upcoming tournaments!

Keep your eye on the Xtreme News for Tournament Pictures!

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The 97 Ga Xtreme spent thirteen hours at Earl O'Neal Park on Saturday and came away with their 1st Tournament Championship of the 2010 season in only their second outing of the year.  Pool play started at 10am when the girls played the 97 Ga Fire.  The team was lead offensively by Kiley Rediger, and Kaitlen Kelly proved too much for the Ga Fire on the mound.  The girls of the Xtreme came away with the 4-1 victory.  This victory would prove to be crucial to the future success of the team later that day.  Next up -- the very talented 97 Worth Cobras.  The Cobras would prove too much for the Xtreme and would eventually pull ahead to stay 4-0.

The girls would regroup and play back to back against two 14u teams beating them 7-5 and 5-0 respectively. The cards fell correctly and as it turned out -- the 97 Xtreme ended up playing in the championship game against the Worth Cobras and hoped this time their efforts would pay off.  They did in a big way.

The game proved to be everything it was built up to be, and after fighting for 7 innings the Ga Xtreme pulled of a very impressive 2-1 win.  The late inning heroics by Michelle Hayden and Lexi Ballew turned out to be the difference in this one.  Michelle drove in the game tying run in the 6th inning forcing the game into extra innings. Then, with the score tied at 1-1 and with runners at 2nd and 3rd, Lexi Ballew drove in the game winner with a solid line drive single up the middle.  Chaos ensued after the victory as the rest of the team mobbed Lexi at 1st base letting her know how much the team appreciated her efforts.

Offensive Spotlight -->  Tiffany Taylor lead all players on the Ga Xtreme batting an incredible .556 for the tournament.  Tiffany also proved to be a rock in Center Field.  In the first inning of the championship game and with two outs, Tiffany made a fantastic diving catch in center field setting the stage for the amazing game that followed.

Defensive Spotlight -->  Kaitlen Kelly lead the team on the mound, and with a solid defense behind her, proved to be too much for two of the best teams in the state.  The 97 Ga Fire and the 97 Worth Cobras managed only 1 earned run each against the gunslinger from the Xtreme.  Kaitlen kept both teams off-balance with multiple pitches and was a defensive rock on the mound.  She came away from the tournament with an impeccable 1.00 ERA, and showed absolute flashes of brilliance at times only rivaled by the stellar pitches called by the coaching staff.  :-)

NEXT UP -- KING OF THE MOUNTAIN where the girls will see how they match up with the best not only from the state of Georgia, but throughout the south east. 

The girls of the Ga Xtreme had their first tournament of the season this past weekend.  They started out struggling mightily and tied a young Ga Stealth team 2-2 on Friday Night.  Saturday morning the team faced off against the Easton Elite (Hasty) in the first of many contests they'll have this year against this solid 97 team.  After tying their second game in a row, the Xtreme went into bracket play a #2 seed in their pool, and took care of business against a young Ga Fire team winning 8-3 in their first bracket game.  This win set up a highly anticipated match-up against the 97 Tanel 360 Bandits from South Georgia.  After 5 innings the score was 3-0 and it looked like the girls of the Xtreme would suffer their first loss of the year.  Kiley Rediger had a different idea and ripped a double that short-hopped the fence and changed the momentum of the entire game.  After this pivotal hit - the team responded and tied the game 3-3.  The two teams went back and fourth in EASILY the best game of the tournament and the Tanel group outlasted the girls of the Xtreme in a 2 hour marathon 6-5.  After losing to the Tanel 360 team, an exhausted 97 Xtreme lost to the Ga Impact (Floor) 3-2.  It had been a long 13 hours of at the ballfield, and to be the first tournament of the season the girls had some good moments.  If the team can eliminate some mental mistakes, and work hard at practice, the tournament victories will come.  Next up for the team is the Ga Fire 99 Fundraiser in Conyers/Covington.  The 97 Xtreme will be playing up in thier first 14u tournament of this very young season.

Ga Xtreme 97 would like to congratulate the Tanel 360 Bandits for winning the ASA Opener and the Easton Elite Heat (Hasty) for their runner up finish.  The girls and the coaching staff are looking forward to playing you guys again.

Offensive Leaders of the ASA Opener:

The Ga Xtreme played up (14u) again this weekend in the annual CamSports "Some Gave All" Tournament in Conyers, Georgia.  In the first bracket game of the day the Xtreme played Tanel 360 14u giving them all they could handle.  The girls of the Xtreme finished them off in a 4 inning battle with a final score of 5 to 4.  After that a matchup was set up with arguably one of the top 12u teams in the country.  The Xtreme went up early and led after two innings, but the eventual tournament winners were just too strong in the end.  They beat the Xtreme 7-2.  One of the interesting aspects of this game was that the umpires decided to treat it as a jawing contest between themselves instead of treating the teams, coaches, players and parents with respect.  They turned into a distraction instead of properly calling the game.  This is absolutely no reason to blow a lead like the Xtreme did, and this is no excuse for the defeat.  After the Xtreme had a bit of an ego blow against the Impact, it was off to play the 14u Wizards.  It would appear that the team lost thier focus at the end of the game, and eventually were defeated in 5 innings by a score of 4-3.  It was a game the Ga Xtreme should not have lost.

Offensively the team struggled mightily all day.  Peyton Sorrells and Michelle Hayden had the best days offensively.  Peyton batted .333 and had 3 walks, and Michelle drove in 3 runs.  Avery Lamb led the way in pitching in the Xtreme victory over Tanel 360.  Avery was sick Saturday morning, and showed a ton of perserverence in finishing the game she started.  It would prove to be her last game of the day.  Next up is the annual Harvest on the Hill in Hoschton, Georgia.  The top 15 12u teams in the state will be in north Georgia this weekend.  It is time for this team to step up and earn the respect of their peers.       

The Ga Xtreme played their first ever 14u tournament this past weekend and had 2 wins and 2 loses in a very competitive field of teams.  Even though the team won only two of the four games they played, they still outscored their opponents 14-12.  The first game the girls faced the Ga Fire and came away with a win 3-2.  They dropped the second contest against this same team 1-0.  After that the bats came alive and the Ga Xtreme took out a little frustration on the Ga Mustangs scoring 11 runs and winning by a final score of 11-6.  After this victory it was off to face the Cobras again where their ace pitcher shut down the home team holding them scoreless.  The final in the game against the Cobras was 3-0.  Petyon Sorrells pitched in the first victory of the day against the Ga Fire, and Avery Lamb was the winning pitcher against the Ga Mustangs.

Offensive leaders for CSA State Tournament:

Batting Average:

1.  Natalie Orcutt -- .500

2.  Avery Lamb -- .400

3.  Tiffany Taylor -- .375

4.  McKenzie Martin -- .375

5.  Kenzi Maddox -- .333

On Base Percentage:

1.  Kenzi Maddox -- .556

2.  Natalie Orcutt -- .500

3.  Tiffany Taylor -- .444

4.  Kaitlen Kelly -- .400

5.  Avery Lamb -- .400

The girls of the Ga Xtreme faced some really bad weather and some of the best young teams in the state this past weekend.  The team started the annual Who's Who of the Fall tournament at noon on Saturday defeating the Ga Impact (Gibson) 3-2.  The team then played Ga Impact (Floor) and were humbled a bit losing 7-3.  It was after that game that the team seemed to turn a corner.

The Ga Xtreme came back with a vengance on Sunday fighting back in the loser's bracket and winning three games in a row.  En route to the championship game, the Xtreme beat the Easton Elite Heat and Ga Impact (Gibson) again which set up a rematch with the Bill Floor's talented young Ga Impact team once again.  It was a game the girls would refuse to lose.  They outlasted the Impact 7-3.

After sending three very good teams home back to back to back, it was off to the championship where the undefeated Worth Cobras were waiting.  It took 6 innings, but the Cobras outlasted the Xtreme in an tiebreaker 4-3.  This past weekend the team showed they can compete with anyone and look to prove it again this next weekend in their first 14u tournament of the year.

 The girls of the Ga Xtreme went 5-0 for their first tournament win of the 2009 Fall Season.  The team outscored their opponents 32-11 over the entire day and outlasted a very good East Cobb Bullets team 7-2 in the championship game.  Pitching was led by Avery Lamb with 2 victories, however all of the Ga Xtreme pitchers came away with a win and each had strong outings.  Madison Couch and Avery Lamb led the way in hitting with a .625 batting average and Michelle Hayden had 4 RBI's over the course of the five game tournament.  Defensively the team struggled at times, but the errors should come down once the girls get used to each other and settle into their positions.  Next up for the girls of the Xtreme is the annual Who's Who of the fall tournament in Hoschton, Georgia where the competition looks to be pretty tough. 

 The 12u Ga Xtreme had good group of girls show up for tryouts on Sunday August 16th and 23rd.  The Xtreme coaches had to make some tough decisions, but the new roster looks to be the most talented group they've had the pleasure of coaching.  

The '97 Xtreme would like to thank all of the girls for coming to tryouts, and would like to wish everyone good luck in their future softball endeavors.

Ga Xtreme '97 -- 2009/2010 Roster

Lexi Ballew

Madison Couch

Brea Dickson

Michelle Hayden

Kaitlen Kelly

Avery Lamb

Kenzi Maddox

McKenzie Martin

Natalie Orcutt

Peyton Sorrells

Tiffany Taylor

The '97 Xtreme had a great tournamnet this weekend finishing 5-3 and taking home 4th place.  They had a tough loss Sunday morning that threw them into the losers bracket, but the girls fought hard and beat three teams back-to-back-to-back sending those teams home.  They eventually ran out of gas and fell to the Ga Force Red late Saturday afternoon.  5 games in one day is a lot to ask of a bunch of 11 yearolds.  It was hot but in the end the bats went cold.  Its off to Ringgold this weekend.

Final Scores for the USFA Armed Forces NIT

In the first tournament of the season, the Girls of the 12U Ga Xtreme played 5 games on Saturday and finished in Second Place behind the Mid Ga Catalyst.  After playing hard all day, they met the Catalyst in the championship game and came up just short against a very good team.  It took two innings of an international tie-breaker, but in the end the Catalyst outlasted the girls of the Xtreme 10-8.  This tournament proves it should be a very exciting 2009 season.  

There were some really good teams at McCurry Park in  Fayetteville this weekend.  The girls of the Ga Xtreme '97 lost a close one to the eventual tournament winners (Newton Impact), and lost to the Ga Elite '96 in an International Tiebreaker in 7 innings in a back and forth barn-burner of a game.  Though dissapointed to go home, everyone was happy with the effort.  When asked what the biggest dissapointment of the tournament was the Ga Xtreme All Star Centerfielder Lexi Ballew only said, "Biggest dissapointment?  I don't know.......... we really wanted to play the older 12U Ga Xtreme just to see how good they really were."  Interesting comment.  I wonder what she meant by that?  Something tells me that opportunity will present itself in the future.    

Ga Xtreme Scores  -- USFA "All the Best for Mom" 

Over the course of 3 days, the Ga Xtreme '97 showed why they are one of the toughest young 12 & Under teams to play against. The girls played 7 strong games, and finished a respectable 8th out of a 16 team field. Though the Xtreme played some very good teams, they never backed down and earned a ton of respect. It was a great weekend of softball for the kids, parents and coaches.