LOWELL, Massachusetts – The Newtown Force 14-and-under travel softball team opened the All-American ASA Tournament in Lowell, Massachusetts, in fine fashion with wins over the Mass Warriors (7-3) and Nashua Nightmares (11-4).

But a loss to the Central Mass Lightning in the final game of the first day of play provided the Force with a fourth seed for the second day of play. Then, the locals dropped an 11-2 decision to the Charlton Wildfire to get bounced from the tournament.

In the win over the Warriors, the Force capitalized on their five hits with some smart baserunning and some Warrior errors. Against Nashua, the Force banged out 15 hits and all but one player had at least one RBI.

Central Mass played Newtown tough, scoring all of their runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings. The Force was unable to score off their seven hits, leaving eight runners on base. And against Charlton, the Force left seven more runners on base and committed four errors.

Since the season opened on June 9, the team has played in seven tournaments and 19 CVFL league games, finished with a 30-18 record. The locals were runners-up at the Breaker Blowout Stratford Tournament and earned an invitation to the PONY Nationals in Sterling, Virginia.

The team was coached by Jim Robertson and Dave Broughton with the added instruction of Dennis Christopher. The squad included Joanna Barry (3B), Stacy Broughton, P, OF), Annemarie Davis (OF), Melissa Fracker (OF, 2B), Kaila Harrington (1B, OF), Samantha Nemchek (P, OF), Laura Newberry (OF), Elissa Robertson (2B), Megan Sajovic (P, OF), Katie Schmidt (SS), Nora Lynn Shimko (C) and Kelley Tenney (1B, OF).