The Mathews Little League 9-11 All-Star softball team experienced a post-season run that they will remember for a lifetime.
After defeating Lancaster to win the District 15 title, the girls advanced to the Virginia Little League State tournament on July 4 in Yorktown, where they finished second in the state.
This same team came close in 2024 to advancing to the state tournament, losing only to one team in the entire regular season and district tournament. Manager Ricky Wiatt and coaches Charlie Crittenden, Melissa Diggs, Julie Fielding and Jeremy Elliott all knew the talent that they had on their team and used that loss in last year’s district championship to push the girls to their run this year.
In the first round of pool play in the state tournament, the Mathews girls faced the Warriors Little League team from Southwest Virginia. Mathews fell behind early, 2-1, after two innings played but bounced back strong, scoring eight runs over the next three innings to win, 9-3. Charlotte Fielding singled in the first inning with two outs to drive in Lilly Ashberry for the first run of the game. Kinley Burcher helped Mathews take the lead in the bottom of the third as she hit a bases-loaded triple. Mckinley Wiatt, Ashberry and Lydia Hurst all scored two runs during the game. After the second inning, Lily McDaniel settled into the circle and her defense stepped up behind her, only allowing one more run by the Warriors.
On day two, Mathews softball had a dominant performance over Churchland Little League, defeating them by run-rule 10-0 in four innings. The team was led again by McDaniel pitching a one-hit game and the defense playing error free. Mathews collected 12 hits over the four innings of play, with Sarah Linaweaver, Avery Horsley and Ashberry each having two hits on the day. The team scored six runs in the fourth inning, led by Elise Elliott’s single that drove in two runs and Emmalyn South’s single scoring another. The girls ran wild on the bases on the day, piling up 13 stolen bases.
The last day of pool play proved to be the biggest challenge for the Mathews girls. They faced the hosts from York County with an opportunity to win the pool. The game was scoreless after the first inning, and when Mother Nature added a challenge with a three-hour plus rain delay, the game resumed at 9:45 p.m. The girls fell behind in the bottom of the second inning, 2-0; however, those would be the only runs allowed during the game by the Mathews squad. Aleya Fields led the team with two runs batted in and Burcher scored twice on the day. McDaniel collected the win for the team, pitching six innings while striking out nine batters and only walking one.
Mathews advanced to the championship bracket as Pool A winner and faced Fairfax Little League on July 8. The semifinal game was tied, 2-2, after three innings, thanks to RBIs by Kaylee Wingfield and Burcher. The Mathews girls’ bats took over with the team scoring 13 runs over the final three innings to win the game, 15-3. McDaniel and Elliott combined to pitch the first five innings and allowed three runs and Wiatt closed the game with a scoreless sixth inning in the circle. Elliott, Linaweaver, Fields all had strong days at the plate, each collecting multiple hits. The victory set the stage for the Mathews team to play McLean for the state title.
Send-off to State
The Mathews community rallied to support the team last Wednesday as the team met to leave for the state title game. The team was supported by Sheriff April Edwards and the Mathews County Sheriff’s Department, Mathews County Volunteer Fire Department, and Mathews EMS as they led an escort from the Mathews Little League ballpark to the county line. The roads of Mathews County were lined with supporters. Although the outcome of the title game was not what the team desired (the girls fell, 12-3, to the reining state champs from McLean) they received much praise throughout the softball community for their efforts against a much larger league.
For the district and state tournaments, Wiatt led the team with the highest batting average, Burcher led with the highest on-base percentage and runs batted in, Ashberry led with the most runs scored, and Fields led with the most stolen bases. In the circle, McDaniel collected 45 strikeouts during the tournaments.
“This is not the last that the Mathews community will hear from this group of softball players,” said team manager Ricky Wiatt. “The future of the program is very bright. A huge thank-you goes out to all their supporters.”