The Minden SweeTees after winning the state championship went on to represent Minden and Louisiana at the World Series this week, bringing home Third Place in a double elimination Tournament. Coach Logan Hollingsworth said that he could not be more proud of the girls, parents, and assistant coaches that helped their team to get so far this season.
“Eight weeks ago we started with this little All-Star team. I would say 50% of my girls definitely couldn’t hit coach pitch, and they were just learning to step and throw. The improvement of such a young team in such a short amount of time is just crazy,” said Hollingworth.
“The girls played excellent defense there. We had the best defense in my opinion at the tournament. It was gratifying, especially as a coach, it showed that the kids understood the game, that they were grasping the concept,” said Hollingsworth.
Sunday they unfortunately lost to Tennessee after playing them in the winners bracket, but quickly got back into the swing of things netting a win against Ward 10.
The elimination game pit them up against Tennessee once again, resulting in a game that went right down to the last pitch.
The game got off to a rough start, with the score being 2-10 in Tennessee’s favor by the third inning. In one inning the SweeTees were able to score 8 runs, tying up the game.
The next inning they scored 6, and we couldn’t score but 5, going down to the last pitch. The score ended 15-16. A very exciting game for sure,” said Hollingsworth. “We had a few missed calls, every game does, but my little girls, they fought hard. It was gratifying for sure.”
“After the game that had their emotions, they understood they lost. Regardless, I was super proud of them. Me and the coaches even got a little emotional. Sad it was over because we had such a good run. Especially with this group of girls and parents.”
More than being proud of the team, Hollingsworth was also grateful for the support of the fans who had come out to cheer the SweeTees on. “We had the best fans at the tournament, loud, encouraging, supportive. Several people were complimenting not only our team but our fanbase,” said Hollingworth.
Overall, Coach hollinsgworth thanked everyone who was involved in making this team such a success, from the players, to assistant coaches, to the parents as well.
I think we represented minden well and Louisiana for sure. With class, respect, adn very competitive. Regardless of the position we were in, we were a team, and that’s really what we pushed for. It wasn’t just me or the other coaches, it was the parents as well. Very proud of the whole group,” said Hollingworth. “And we had the best looking uniforms.”