PEFYA Belles sweep the district

Published 10:27 am Thursday, June 27, 2019

The Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association (PEFYA) Belles all-star team never tasted defeat on its way to winning the 2019 Dixie Softball Belles District 1 Tournament in South Hill.

The area girls went 3-0 in the three-team double-elimination event, capping their run with an 11-10 come-from-behind victory over the Lunenburg Girls’ Softball (LGS) all-star team Wednesday evening in the championship game.

PEFYA Belles Manager Larry Conwell was pleased to see his players clinch the title.

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“I was very happy for them,” he said. “They just never gave up, and they just played as a team. … They just kept playing as hard as they could, and they left it all out there.”

He noted that going into the third inning, PEFYA was down 9-5.

“And we just kept fighting back, fighting back, and the last inning, DaNasia Dupuy, she got on,” he said. “And then her sister, Ti’Onna Dupuy, knocked her in for the game-winning run, so it was nice having sisters do that.”

Meredith Schmidt led Prince Edward-Farmville on offense by going 3-for-3. She also pitched three innings and threw one strikeout.

In the circle, Brooke Conwell pitched four innings, giving up one run and throwing one strikeout.

“Tonight was just an all-around effort,” Manager Conwell said.

The PEFYA Belles All-Stars advance to play in the 2019 Dixie Softball Belles State Tournament, which starts July 12 in Rustburg.

Prince Edward-Farmville opened its run in the district tourney with a 16-9 victory over Lunenburg on Monday and then topped Dinwiddie 4-2 on Tuesday.

Through two games, Manager Conwell said his players have “been playing good, been playing as a team, and there’s just no selfish playing and just everybody’s contributing a little bit.”

He has been coaching some of the girls over the years as they have risen through the Dixie Softball age divisions, but he said he did not know what to expect this year given a key change.

“We only had one team, and everybody that played in the regular season made the all-stars, and they’ve been producing,” he said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

In Tuesday’s victory, Schmidt pitched four innings and gave up two runs, and Brooke Conwell pitched three innings.

On offense, Morgan Curtis scored twice, and Schmidt and Conwell each scored once.

“We really didn’t have an offensive night, but we scored it when we had to,” Manager Conwell said.