It has been

a busy summer for the Southside Diamonds. The Diamonds

are an under 18 softball team made up of players from

Fayette County and their play has taken them to the NSA

State Tournament, as well as across the Atlantic Ocean on

a European tour. The team is full of some of the more

premier players from the local high school programs and

they are used to winning.

A European

tour can be a little overwhelming to professional

players, but the Diamonds find the experience to be old

hat now. They played in an international tournament in

Oldenzaal, Netherlands last year and took first place.

This year's trip was more of a tour and gave the girls a

chance to play some exhibition type matches.

The trip

began with a game against the British National Women's

team, who were looking to strengthen their skills before

the 2000 Olympics. The field conditions were not great.

In fact, there was no softball field, so the girls played

on a local rugby field. At the end of their final game,

the British team gave the Diamond players their jerseys

in a team gift trade.

After

England, the Diamonds cruised through the Chunnel to

France and the onto Amsterdam to face the Hoofdorf

Women's softball club, the Pioneers. The game ended in a

tie because the pioneer coach only wanted to play one

inning of International Tie Breaker. The Diamonds then

took on the Ragerf Thamen Women's softball club from

Uithoorn, winning and experiencing people and places with

different lifestyles and languages.

The

Diamonds were back stateside for the NSA State Tournament

the weekend of the Fourth of July. They defeated their

first opponent, Greased Lightning, by a score of 6-0. All

of the runs came in the third inning after Chrissy

Lunsford was hit with a pitch and scored on an error. The

Diamonds produced eight hits in the inning and scored six

runs. Ashley Embrey pitched the shutout.

Heather

Kershaw pitched the next game for the Diamonds, who had

held a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning against the Georgia

Phoenix. Errors became costly for the Diamonds though and

Faircloth hit a sacrifice fly and Laura Gardner hit a

base hit for an RBI but the Diamonds were all out of

offense. The loss sent the Diamonds to the loser's

bracket and a very tough draw.

The

Diamonds played five games on Sunday. In the first match,

the Diamonds beat the Lilburn Legends, 6-2. Ashley Embrey

threw a one hitter, as the offense put together solid

hits and base running for the win.

Next up was

the East Cobb Bullits. The Southside Diamonds shut them

out 4-0. Jennifer Hester and Lindsay Faircloth each had 2

RBIs in the win. The victory also kept the Diamonds

active in the tournament.

In their

third game on Sunday, the Diamonds played against the

local favorites, the Rockdale Lady Jaguars. They secured

their 3-0 win with timely hitting and base running again.

Following that match, the Diamonds played the Brownsmill

Lady Jackets (Gold). Heather Kershaw pitched a one-hitter

and Laura Gardner produced two RBIs in the 3-1 win.

Laura

Gardener produced the only run in the Diamonds 2-1 loss

to the East Cobb Force. The Diamonds captured third place

in the NSA State tounament and qualified to play in the

NSA World Series later this month.

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