The Buckingham County Debs all-star team experienced a slow start to its run in the 2019 Dixie Softball Debs State Tournament, falling mid-Friday afternoon to the Clarksville All-Stars amid sweltering heat and then rebounding Saturday morning for a big win against the Rustburg All-Stars in Concord.

After the final out had been recorded in their game Friday at Concord Elementary School, the Buckingham All-Stars found themselves on the losing end of an 8-1 ballgame against Clarksville.

“It didn’t go as well as I expected, the way I wanted it to go,” Buckingham Debs Manager Elton Chambers said.

He noted that a few errors by his team in the first inning led to an early 4-0 lead for Clarksville.

Chambers also said that there were “a couple plays in the outfield that should have been caught later during the game, and we didn’t hit the ball as well as I know my girls can hit … We just didn’t hit the ball.”

Mia Garrett pitched the first four innings for Buckingham, and then Nikki Hurt finished the game in the circle.

Chambers said he did not see the heat as being too much of a factor because his players had practiced and played in similar weather prior to the state tourney. But he did cite the lack of a relaxed approach as being a problem for his team.

Their performance was notably better Saturday when they routed the Rustburg all-star team 16-0 in a mercy rule-shortened game.

“The pitching was excellent,” Chambers said. “The hitting came along pretty good. We put the bat on the ball pretty good. They still weren’t the aggressive hits that I know my girls can do, but they still did what I asked them to do, and they put the bat on the ball, and they did aggressive base running.”

Kaya Amos pitched the first two innings, and Camryn Hartless pitched the last three.

“Madison Pribble probably had the hottest bat going,” Chambers said. “I moved her up from Friday’s game, I put her in the No. 3 spot, and she did some real good hitting.”