Buckingham County fielded a remarkably young all-star squad in the Dixie Softball Debs age division this year, but the team showed it belonged there through its quality of play, defeating or at least challenging nearly every opponent it faced in the course of going 2-2 at the 2018 Virginia Dixie Softball Debs State Tournament in Farmville.

The intended age range for Debs is 16- to 18-year-olds, though younger players are allowed to participate.

“(We’ve) got a good young team,” Buckingham Debs Manager Elton Chambers said. “I think the oldest one we’ve got on the team is, like, 16; the youngest one is about 14, so we’ve got a real young team.”

The Buckingham girls went up 3-0 Monday against the two-time defending state champion Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association (PEFYA) All-Stars after 1.5 innings before the host team rallied in the second and eventually took the lead in the fifth for a 7-3 victory.

“We finally got the chance to hit the ball a little bit,” Chambers said. “We got a few on base, and we capitalized on the hits we needed.”

Buckingham struggled to pile up hits throughout the tournament, but Kaya Amos helped set a fresh tone Monday when she hit a solo home run in the first inning. Quentasha Williams followed that up by hitting a two-run shot in the second.

Then pitcher Mia Garrett and the Buckingham defense held experienced PEFYA scoreless for two more innings.

“Overall, I’m very proud of the girls,” Chambers said. “They showed up to play ball tonight.”

They opened their run in the state tournament with an exciting 12-5 victory over the Halifax American All-Stars on Friday. On Saturday, they fell 17-5 to the Clarksville All-Stars. The latter game was marked by a high-speed collision at second base between a Clarksville defender and Chambers’ daughter, Tyshea. Both players were transported by ambulance to the hospital, but the injuries ended up not being severe.

Chambers said he did not want his daughter to play in Sunday’s game against the Brookneal All-Stars, however, she was insistent, and so he relented but made sure she wore a facemask and a mouthguard.

He noted he ended up being glad she played “because she had an outstanding game and made a few key plays on second base where I had her playing, and she scored the first run of the game against Brookneal, and she also scored the last winning run.”

Buckingham, trailing all game, was down 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh and facing elimination when it put together a four-run rally to send the game into an extra inning. The Buckingham defense held Brookneal scoreless in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning, Tyshea Chambers got on base and reached second.

“Then the No. 4 batter, Mia Garrett, hit a shot right in center field, and (Tyshea) scored from second to home to get the winning run that gave us a 6-5 win,” Chambers said.

The manager noted that Amos provided a strong six innings in the circle to help put Buckingham in a position to win. Four of Brookneal’s runs came off of errors.

Chambers expressed significant optimism about his team moving forward.

“We’re just going to figure out what the future holds for these girls now,” he said.