Patterson 10U Softball All-Stars win Babe Ruth Southwest Regional title

It took a winner-take-all game, but the Patterson Babe Ruth 10U Softball All-Stars survived the Harrison Diamond Divas, 2-1, in walk-off fashion Saturday and punched their ticket to the Babe Ruth 10U Softball World Series next month.
Harrison, which emerged from the loser’s bracket after defeating Broken Bow, Oklahoma, Saturday morning, run-ruled Patterson, 11-1, in five innings in the first game to force a winner-take-all contest.
With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the sixth, Patterson’s Laila Dugar led off the inning with a double to left field. After Harrison retired the next batter, Ryle Chaisson, for the inning’s first out, Patterson’s Madison Gray singled and drove in Dugar to end the game.
That followed more dramatics in the top of the sixth inning.
With one out and a runner on first, Harrison hit the ball to pitcher Emily Lipari, who tossed the ball to first baseman Amaya Williams for the inning’s second out.
However, Williams made a throw in an attempt to pick off the lead runner in between second base and third base but the ball went into centerfield to the fence.
However, Gray got the ball and threw to Kamille Lightfoot at shortstop. Lightfoot then relayed the throw home to catcher Bryleigh Dehart, who tagged the runner out preserving the 1-all tie.
Following the contest, Lightfoot was awarded the Jaime Lynn Horn Memorial MVP Award for the 10U Division of the Southwest Regional Tournament.
“This is a very special group of girls from the top to the bottom,” Patterson head coach Harris DeHart said today. “I’m very happy to be able to work with girls of this caliber. And the coaching staff is great. We work as a team and make all decisions as a team, while each coach does his own part. Coach Jonathan Lightfoot will take the team when they are down and bring them back up with the highest level of confidence, and coach Jeff Lipari is like the Sean Payton of softball, so all I have do to is just fill in the cracks. All I’m saying is without each of these girls and coaches, we couldn’t have done it.”
Patterson won the southwest regional title a year after finishing runner-up. Approximately four players from last year’s team are on this team.
Of Patterson’s six years in Babe Ruth action, the team has recorded two state runner up finishes (one each in 8U and 10U), one regional runner up (10U) and one each state and regional champ, both for the 10U team this season.
The final Harrison-Patterson matchup was the fourth between the two teams last week and the third close game.
With the win, Patterson will advance to the World Series in Jensen Beach, Florida, which will be held Aug. 4-11.
In Saturday’s deciding game, Emily Lipari earned the complete-game victory. In six innings, she surrendered one run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
The Diamond Divas took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, and the score remained the same until Patterson tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the third.
Offensively, Amaya Williams led Patterson with a double and a single, while Dugar had a double and Gray, a single.
In game 1, Dugar pitched the first four innings, while Chaisson pitched the final two innings.
No other stats were available from Game 1.
Patterson advanced to the championship round after knocking off the Harrison Diamond Divas, 8-6, in eight innings Friday.
With the score knotted at 6 after six innings of regulation play, the teams played a scoreless seventh inning before Patterson scored the winning run in the top of the eighth inning and added a second run in the frame.
In the top of the eighth, Charlotte Callais came home on a wild pitch for a 7-6 Patterson advantage, while the next batter, DeHart, came home on a double by Williams to right field for the second run.
Dugar fanned the first two batters she faced in the bottom of the eighth inning before allowing a walk. However, she got the final out one batter later on a called third strike and punched Patterson’s ticket to the championship round.
Friday’s game was a battle of the final unbeaten teams in the 10U southwest tournament as both teams entered the semifinal with 2-0 marks.
Dugar earned the win in relief of Lipari. In two innings, Dugar surrendered no runs on one hit with one walk and five strikeouts.
Lipari pitched the first six innings and surrendered six runs with two hit batters and three strikeouts.
The game was back and forth as the Diamond Divas, Arkansas’ northern state champs, scored a run each in the bottom of the second and third innings for a 2-0 lead.
Patterson, Louisiana’s state champs, countered with four runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the top of the fifth for a 6-2 advantage.
However, Harrison tied the score at 6 in the bottom of the fifth.
Offensively, Williams led Patterson with a double and two runs. Other top offensive contributors included Callais, a double and a run; Lipari, a single and two runs; Dugar, a single; and DeHart, Lightfoot and Gray, each a run.
Despite the loss, Harrison pitching recorded 17 strikeouts.
Coach Dehart thanked the team’s sponsors.
“We couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.
He also thanked the team’s supporters, including
those who watched on social media.