Dear Sirs,
I have submitted to you a gallary of photos including a team photo of the Lady Knights and their impressive 3rd place trophy.
In the names I mentioned that Katie Hurst was not pictured, but I MISSED Sara Andrasik who also was not pictured but played a big part in our success in Orville.
There is certainly a story behind this team of 12 and 13 year old girls who are ALL from the Nordonia district and play at the highest level of Fastpitch Softball in the region.
Rare is the fact that the girls are all from the district and the team did not tryout players from other districts, but instead devoted themselves to the original NHAA roster when they broke away to a tournament team.
More rare is the fact that not one girl rosterd is 14. In most cases, tournament teams roster the oldest girls allowable. Using the legal cut off date, this means a great deal of the competition they are playing have already turned 15.
Perhaps, most impressive is the fact that these girls have finished in the semi final round 5 times total this season. The last in Oriville where they rolled through teams like the Orange Crush and the Broadview Eagles before finally getting ousted by the Boardman All Stars. Boardman went on to win the tournament and the Lady Knights finished 3rd. OUT OF 18, which is amazing when you look at the competition in this mid summer classic.
The Lady Knights have battled the 'rec team' tag all year on the tournament circuit, but time after time they have knocked off well established clubs who might have looked past the scrappy Knights. Still, though independent, these girls are proud to have choosen the Lady Knights name and now thrive off of the 'rec team' tag.
Already this season, the Lady Knights have earned ASA, NSA, and Pony National tournament bid invitations. This squad is led by head coach Jeff Shiray and assistant coach Anthony DeRusso. The Lady Knights will finish the season in Columbus this weekend.