Stateline Fury 16U Red wins national championship

Stateline Fury’s 16U Red fast pitch softball team battled 100 degree temperatures in Overland Park, Kan. to win the 2016 United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) National Championship the weekend of Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24.

The team went 11-1 and outscored their opponents with a combined score of 87-20 including six shutout victories. The tournament featured 41 of the top 16U teams from around the nation and is the pinnacle tournament for the USSSA fast pitch softball association.

Teams from Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, and South Dakota were in attendance.

After losing in the quarterfinals in extra innings to a tough Minnesota team, Fury won five back-to-back games on Sunday, July 24, playing from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. non-stop, to claim the victory.

In order to win the Championship, they would have to win twice against the same team that put them in the loser’s bracket.

Despite already playing for six hours straight, Fury had a come from behind 9-7 victory in the first required game to force a final, “winner take all” game.

Fury came out swinging and ended the game early by “run-ruling” their competitor in five innings and claiming the Championship title by a score of 10-2.

The team now has a National Championship to add to their three previous second place National finishes in 2012, 2014, and 2015 and is ranked fourth in the nation for all 16U “A” teams.

Together this group has played over 450 games since the age of 11 and look forward to their next win.

Players on the Fury 16U Red team include Bailey Neiber (Belvidere North), Meagan Matuska (Hononegah), Kennedy Cox (Janesville Craig), Hannah Halverson (Janesville Craig), Kylie Johnson (Belvidere North), Jenna Brandt (Janesville Craig), Mackenzie Myers-Riggs (DeKalb), Katie Tews (Sun Prairie, Wis.), Payton Montgomery (DeKalb), Elle Adams (Harlem), Mackenzie Lawrence (Harlem), and Madi Gibbons (Belvidere).

This is the first USSSA National Championship in program history while the Fury program has also won two NAFA National Championships, one in the 18U division in 2015 and the other in the 16U division earlier this summer.

The Fury 10U team will compete for a National Championship this weekend in Bloomington, Minn.

Tryouts for 2016-2017 Fury teams will take place on Aug. 1, Aug. 2, Aug. 8, and Aug. 10.

For more information, please visit www.statelinefury.com or contact Dennis McKinney at (815) 289-4558 or by email at [email protected].