Damascus Senior League Ready to Make an Impact at World Series

DAMASCUS, Va. – As heavy rain soaked the softball field at Damascus Middle School on Wednesday evening, most people were grateful to get a reprieve from the August heat.

Not the members of the World Series-bound Damascus Senior League softball team. The girls wanted to be on the field practicing in preparation for the biggest tournament of their lives.

“We practice every day – 2½ to 3 hours. They’re a good group,” Damascus manager David Morrison said. “I normally pull in and they’re already here, and then most of the time, when I leave, they’re still out there.”

That hard work and love for the game has helped Damascus earn a spot in the Senior League World Series that begins today in Roxana, Del. The Virginia state and Southern
Regional champions will play a team from Germany’s Ramstein Air Force Base tonight at 8 p.m.

“The [last two weeks] have been just overwhelming and exciting,” Damascus outfielder Faith Ritchie said. “It’s been a really great experience for us. Who would’ve thought small-town girls would go this far?”

It’s rare for any team from this area to advance as far as the girls from Damascus have.

According to administrator Bill Hill, Damascus is the first District 1 team to reach a World Series of any kind since a Bristol baseball squad qualified for the Big League World Series in 1992.

Damascus was honored by community leaders on Thursday and departed on Friday for the long road trip to the Delaware/Maryland border town of Roxana.

“We really don’t know what to expect,” Morrison said. “I don’t think none of us have realized what level we’re about to reach.”

Years in the making
The 10 players on Damascus’ roster have grown up together. Some have known each other since before they started Kindergarten, a lot of them played T-Ball together and almost all have been softball teammates for as long as they can remember.

“It definitely helps, because you have trust,” Damascus catcher Megan Honaker said. “You really trust each other.”

Damascus won its first state title in 2005 in the 9- and 10-year-old division, while winning the state Junior League crown in 2008 and the Senior League title this season. Morgan Lowe, Mariah Morrison and Lauren Fritz have played for all three state champions.

Last summer, after winning the state title, Damascus struggled in the Southern Regional tournament in Florida and was eliminated early.

“When we went to Florida last year, we didn’t really go to win, we just went to have fun,” pitcher/shortstop Mariah Morrison said.

But that setback set the tone for this year’s run through the state and regional tourneys.

“After we got eliminated, we met in the outfield and we cried a whole lot. Then we started talking about goals for this year, and one of our goals was to reach the Southern region again and win it,” David Morrison said. “Then we went through player by player and discussed what we needed to do to get to that level. That really sticks out in my mind and something that was important.”

The team also had to make an important decision before this season. Most team members could either stay in Junior League or move up the more competitive Senior League, which is for players age 13-16.

Damascus didn’t have a 16-year-old on the roster, but it does have five 14-year-olds, four 15-year-olds and one 13-year-old.

“We decided if we were going to split up or stay together. If we went to junior league, we would have go outside and combine with other districts or did we want to move up and stay together,” David Morrison said. “The girls, no doubt, decided to stick together.”

It turned out to be an excellent decision.

Championship run
Damascus has been dominant on the field. The team won all four of its games in the state tournament and then went 5-0 in the Southern Regional tournament in Ruther Glen, Va..

What makes that accomplishment even more impressive is a roster that includes just 10 players and the stringent pitch limit that is imposed by the Little League governing body.

“Everybody has a special part on this team,” Damascus first baseman Taylor Doss said.

The team clinched the regional title with a thrilling 9-7 victory over Mathews, Va.

“We were real nervous,” second baseman Brittany Boyd said. “It was quite scary.”

However, Damascus’ players are used to high-pressure situations. Almost all of them played on Holston High School’s junior varsity and varsity teams this spring. Lowe and Ritchie were All-Hogoheegee District selections for the Cavaliers.

“High school ball helped me in the way of looking at the girls and sizes and not being afraid of playing older girls,” Lowe said. “It helped me a lot.”

Several of the players are also a member of travel ball teams and have played in excess of 50 games during the summer.

“In softball, you have to give up everything – boys, vacation, cheer camp,” Honaker said.

That said, there is no worry about burnout with this group.

“We love it,” Ritchie said. “It’s pretty much all we do. It’s our favorite thing.”

And now the group prepares for an opportunity that none of them is taking for granted.

“We get to play different people, and that’s always fun,” outfielder Mary Hand said. “It’s going to be different.”

Fans can watch and listen to the World Series games online on a pay-per-view basis at http://delmarvasports.youcastr.com. The championship game will be televised by ESPN2.