Published: Friday, Jul. 25, 2008 / Updated: Friday, Jul. 25, 2008 12:10 AM

Four champions crowned on final day

Four champions were decided at the 2008 NSA Class B Girls Fastpitch Softball World Series on Thursday, and one winner defied the odds with a comeback win in extra innings.

The 12-and-under Yorktown (Va.) Revolution beat the undefeated Charlotte Blaze Black 7-0 to force a second and deciding game. The Revolution, whose good-luck charm is a 13-star flag the coaches hang on their dugout, erased a 3-1 deficit for a 7-6 win in the last of the seventh.

"This is almost unbelievable," coach Jon Sweeney said. "We lost our second game in the elimination tournament and had to fight back through the loser's bracket. It took us 13 games -- five Wednesday -- to win this championship. Our team motto is 'Refuse to lose,' so I'm not surprised at what we accomplished."

The Blaze went up 5-3 in the top of the sixth, but the Revolution tied the score while the one hour and 30-minute time-limit clock was buzzing. The teams were forced to go to the international tiebreaker rule an inning early, meaning each team would start its at-bat with a runner at second base.

The Blaze got its runner home for a 6-5 lead and needed only to get three outs and keep the Revolution's runner from scoring.

Not today.

Ayannah Bowman took her place at second and was sacrificed to third. Kayla St. John stepped in and drilled a double off the base of the fence in left to tie the game.

St. John advanced to third on the second out, a grounder on the infield. Karlee Holzbach drilled a clutch single to left, scoring St. John and ending the game.

"I thought the ball I hit was out," St. John said. "But I'll take the double because it got the tying run home. It was hard to do, but I felt we could come back and win twice.''

16-and-under

• RICHMOND STORM 4, CAROLINA GIRLS 3 -- The most local team in the Series was the Carolina Girls coached by former Lewisville High School boys basketball and assistant football coach Brian Dove.

The team includes two players from Nation Ford High, with the rest coming from Lancaster, Buford and Andrew Jackson high schools.

The Carolina Girls were attempting to become the first area team to win a Series title but fell short to the Richmond (Va.) Storm. It was their third meeting of the week, with the Storm taking 5-3 and 8-2 wins in the other games.

"It's hard to beat a good pitcher three times," Dove said. "We just couldn't get the clutch hits we needed."

The Storm scored all four of its runs in the championship in the top of the first. But the Carolina Girls cut it to 4-2 and later 4-3 with a run in the last of the fifth. In the sixth, Buford's Jenna Hallman reached second and Nation Ford's Heather Hammond drew a walk and went to first with one out.

Both were stranded in what turned out to be the Carolina Girls' last at-bat. The time expired, halting their momentum surge.

"We had fun, but we really wanted to get one for our area," Lancaster pitcher Courtney Cauthen said. "But I'm still proud. We are the first local team to finish second."

Brittney McCaulley, Samantha May and Mandi Murphy were the Storm's leading hitters in the Series, coach Rich Johann said.

"We peaked down here," he added. "This is the first World Series championship for our organization, but we had to hold off a good team to do it.''

14-and-under

• CHARLOTTE MAGIC WHITE 3, DIAMOND GIRLS 1 -- Like the Storm, the Magic was undefeated and closed out its championship in one final game.

The teams locked into a pitching duel, with all the runs coming early.

"I sure wish we had won the first one and forced a second game," Diamond Girls assistant coach Rick Hudson said of the battle between the two North Carolina teams. "Both of us played well, and the final score shows. We had some runners on base, but couldn't get them across the plate."

Magic coach Jerry Stoval's team was led at the plate by Hannah Eudy, Alex Church and Margaret Whitestone.

"Until earlier today, this was the first time we've played them, and that's unusual with both teams being from North Carolina," said Stovall of the team based in Yadkin County. "We beat them 13-4 in the winner's bracket game, but they came back and played us hard. Our girls were solid, and that was the key."

The Magic, like most other teams, has a motto. Theirs is: "One heart, one team."

"That's how we play," said Kelsey Helms, the winning pitcher. "Our defense was absolutely amazing. We couldn't have won without the players behind me."

10-and-under

• DIAMOND STATE SWOOP 2, CAROLINA ATTITUDE 1 -- The girls played in Huntersville, N.C., the first three days, but ventured to Cherry Park for the championship on Thursday.

And what a game it was.

The Swoop, the only Delaware team in the Series, scored both its runs in the last of the first and held on. Astin Riddle and Regan Green each singled and scored on Kelsie Joseph's double.

Green was also the winning pitcher.

"This was a special day for me," she said. "My team won, but that's what we came here to do. After we won our first game, I had a feeling we could go all the way."

The Attitude picked up its run in the top of the third, which was scored by Josey Jones.

"I didn't think 2-0 would hold up," Attitude coach Jeff Pace said. "But they have a good pitcher. We saw that when they beat us 6-0 in the winner's bracket game."