The 2018 Buckingham County Sweetees All-Star team went 0-2 during the Virginia Dixie Softball SweeTees State Tournament in Farmville over the weekend, but the group of girls demonstrated the foundation of strong softball future for the county, earning the tourney’s sportsmanship award.

“To say I am proud of these girls is an understatement,” Buckingham Manager Ashley Tyler said. “They all have worked hard and should be proud of themselves and their teammates. Each one of them holds a special place in my heart.”

Buckingham featured some first-year players this year in SweeTees, the 4- to 6-year-old age group, and the girls had two weeks to come together as a team.

“It’s two teams combined, so they never really played together,” Tyler said.

The state tourney featured two participants — Buckingham and the Timberlake All-Stars.

Timberlake won 9-1 on Friday and 18-0 on Saturday to clinch the state title, but Tyler was pleased to see her team meet her expectations which were “to try to hit the ball and to listen to the coaches, because we’re going to give them the best advice that they can get.”

For them to win the sportsmanship honor meant a great deal to Tyler.

“To be given a sportsmanship trophy says a lot in how the players act toward each other and the opponents,” she said. “When they announced our team for that trophy, I was very humbled for my girls. Victory is in the quality of competition not the final score. I really think the girls learned that during this tournament. I think people get caught up in winning and forget how to show respect during the game. I can honestly say my girls did an awesome job and their parents and family should be proud of how they handled themselves on the field.”