Buttery, Wildcats Go To Nationals

Kim Buttery, of Newtown, and her Wildcats 10U fast pitch softball team, ended their year with a trip to the PONY Nationals Invitational in Wilmington, DE, recently. The first day of games started with a 10-0 win over the Pennsylvania-based Xtreme team. After a loss   to the eventual champion Maryland Magic, the third game, against the Amherst Lightning out of  Buffalo NY, ended in a 3-3 tie.

The following morning, the Wildcats finished off their pool play with a 7-0 win over the Jersey Bandits. Pool play ended and the Wildcats finished with a 2-1-1 record, securing a matchup with the Vienna Stars of Virginia. Great pitching and timely hitting propelled the Wildcats to an 8-0 win over the Stars, heading to a matchup with the Maryland Magic again, this time in the double elimination round. The Wildcats played the Magic extremely tough, however, the Magic continued their undefeated ways by besting the Wildcats 5-1 , bouncing the Wildcats into the loser’s bracket .

The Wildcats had a meeting with the Jersey Bandits again. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Wildcats found themselves down 5-3 going into the last inning before putting together a great comeback for a 6-5 victory. The Wildcats fought back to tie the score, and The International Tie Breaker rule was put into effect with a runner put on second base to start the inning. Buttery scored the winning run and the team moved on..  

The Wildcats defeated the Delaware Magic 5-3 for the right to play against the Central Jersey Lightning. The Wildcats fell 4-0, to conclude a strong season in which they went 62-5-2 and secured seven tournament championships.