PEFYA Debs Headed to World Series

KENBRIDGE – The Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association (PEFYA) Debs softball team didn’t have to travel real far for the Virginia State Tournament this year as it was held in neighboring Lunenburg County.

The team seemed right at home in Kenbridge as they rolled through the tournament with relative ease and claimed the state title win over Blackstone that will send them on to play in the World Series held in Louisiana.

Following a close second round game against Lunenburg (7-6) that many fans still think was the best contest in the tournament, PEFYA went on to win two more games and go 4-0 in the tournament to take a spot in the championship game.

PEFYA faced off against Blackstone in the title game after having beaten them by a 10-4 score earlier in the tournament. In that victory Hannah-Gray Schmidt got the win on the mound while her teammates were strong on offense and defense.

Coming into the finals, Blackstone would have needed to beat PEFYA twice to claim the state title and looked motivated early on as both teams would play good defense to start and the score was 0-0 at the end of the first inning.

That was the only time that the game felt in doubt as PEFYA scored two runs in the second inning to surge ahead behind the strong hitting of Schmidt, Caroline Seal and several other players including Jaden Capati and Mary Grace Amos.

PEFYA continued to pound the ball and added 12 more runs over the next three innings to come away with the 14-0 slaughter rule victory and state title.

The PEFYA squad will start their World Series tournament on July 31 against either Alabama or Louisiana. The game is set for a 9 am start time.

The team has set up several fundraising activities including a  Go Fund Me page (https://www.gofundme.com/2fzthtft) in order to help with expense from the trip.

Congratulations to team members Gracie Hodges, Maddie Moreland, Alexa Marzloff, Jordyn Harris, Alexis Gayles, Hannah-Gray Schmidt, Abby Roach, Caroline Seal, Mary Grace Amos, Melissa Wright, Jaden Capati and Shaunice Beasley. Coaches for the team include Michael Roach, John Hodges and David Schmidt.