Norfolk Storm battle to 4th place in the "States" and advance to "Regionals" Over the weekend of June 29th-July 1st, the Norfolk Storm U14 Fastpitch Softball team traveled to Uxbridge, Mass. to participate in the ASA Fastpitch State Softball Tournament. After a long weekend of very competitive games they ended up finishing 4th in the state and earning the privilege to participate in the ASA Fastpitch Regionals in Pawtucket, Rhode Island over July 13th-15th. Their tournament play started on Friday night with an impressive 12- 5 win against a team from the city of Springfield, Mass. called the Springfield WBC Stars. There was no doubt they were set on having a successful weekend with that statement win. The following morning the action started fast with a more impressive 1-0 win against the Somerset Magic who were the tournament favorites due to the fact they were the defending State Champions from 2006. After defeating Somerset, the Storm earned another win with a 3-2 victory in extra innings against another softball powerhouse from Agawam, Mass. called the Warriors. After that strong performance the team retreated back to the parking lot for a cookout and awaited our next opponent which ended up being Acton/Boxboro Lightning. This game was a highly anticipated game due to the fact that both teams were undefeated and were very familiar with each other. In the spring the Storm had traveled to Acton/Boxboro for a doubleheader and had won both games. Additionally both of these teams had traveled to the Nationals in Mississippi during this past summer and had become quite friendly. Unfortunately for the Storm, their string of wins would come to an end with a close but tough 3-1 loss to Acton/Boxboro. Acton/Boxboro would eventually become the state champions by winning the entire tournament. Following this unfortunate defeat, the Storm got back to their winning ways on Sunday morning by edging out a strong team from Beverly, Mass. by a 1-0 score. This was also an impressive win because the Beverly Panthers had just downed another strong team from Plainville, Mass. that was also supposed to contend for the title. The final game for the Storm ended up being a very close game against a strong team from western Mass. called the Charlton Wildfire. The final score of that game was 4-1 which eventually eliminated Norfolk from the tournament and placed them 4th in the state behind the softball powerhouses from Acton/Boxboro, Fairhaven, and Charlton. All in all it was a very successful and enjoyable weekend by the team and their parents. It is not often that a small town like Norfolk with roughly 9,500 residents can compete and win against large towns and cities with teams from around the state. Wish us luck in the Regionals and congratulate the players when you see them around town. Norfolknet.com your community, on-line