Saluda River Stingers 16u: Welcome

                                 The History of the Saluda River Stingers Softball

  In 2006, seeing the need to establish a 10u travel team for local girls to play better competition, the Saluda River Stingers Softball team was established. On a cool April Sunday afternoon 24 girls tried out for something they did not know what they were getting into, travel ball. Some of the parents knew what to expect since they had played travel slow pitch softball before, but most didn’t. The girls themselves didn’t really care, all they wanted to do was go have fun and play ball. 13 girls made the first team and after a few practices we headed to Anderson to play in our first of 5 tournaments’s that we had planned to play.

  It was a cold rainy April morning in Anderson, with an 8 o’clock game time, the team was told to be at the park to warm up at 7. At 7:30, half the team was not there. Parents were thinking they would not play in the rain. Welcome to travel ball. Our first game ever was against the Atlanta Viper’s, a well established organization that had been playing tournament ball for quite a few years. Rolling bat bags, full uniforms with long pants, nice warm jackets, 2 or 3 bats per player, big long motor homes bring their team to the park. Our players and parents were wondering, what have we stepped into this morning.

As the drizzle continued the game was under way. The Stingers won their first game 6-1.The fun began until the coaches had a parent meeting to let them know we are serious and when we set a time to be there, that’s what we meant. Now everyone knew what it took to play travel ball and the season was on.

  Our 5 tournaments turned into 10, our young girls started turning into good ball players and the good times had just started. Playing against what I think was the toughest group of teams in the upstate in the 10u group, the Stingers made some good lasting friendships along with some good team rivalries that year. Finishing up the year at Myrtle Beach in November the Stingers finished 13^th out of 26 teams and ended the season with an overall record for that year of 42-32.

  In 2007 the team finished the season with a 52-22 record with an ASA and ISA State runner ups. Playing again in many tournaments across the State, the girls cherished the trophies they won that year.

  In 2008 the team having to move up to 12u, again having to play older competition the team played well all year with a record of 60-29-3 and finishing the year at Myrtle Beach finishing 7^th in the WFC Battle at the beach.

  In 2009, we had what we thought was our best team so far. The girls finished Runner up in the ASA State and won the NSA State Championship that year. Finishing 5^th at The WFC Battle at the Beach, our season record was 72-24. At this time the girls were starting to know what all the hard work they had done in the past was for.

 In 2010 we started our first year of 14u. Having to start late because some of our players were still in high school playoffs, after a few tournaments the Stingers finished runner up in the ASA State. Seeing the need to move on up to play tougher competition, we started playing 16u and some 18u tournaments to let the girls see more consistent pitching and tougher competition. The Stingers finished 4^th in the NSA 16/18u State and played some showcase tournaments and 16u ASA regional. Finishing the season at Myrtle Beach, the Stingers finished 2nd at the Battle At the Beach and ended the season 20-22-2. The record doesn’t seem like our teams in the past, but the competition will sure make the girls be ready for high school softball this season.

  One thing we have focused on in the past and for our future, we have local girls on our team, we keep it family oriented, we stay focused on training our girls for the afterlife of softball. Since day one when we play on Sunday we have devotionals by a parent or a player, and all our girls have GPA’s of 3.8 to 5.0

 One tournament after beating an older team this year, one of the girls from the other team was heard saying at the concession stand, “We just got beat by a bunch of kids.” What could be better than that?