Key West Softball State Champs 

By KONK Life Intern Emily Bracher

 

Two of the four Key West Girls Softball League travel teams came home with a state title after a long weekend of games in Fort Myers. From June 28-30, these young athletes put everything they had onto the field and it paid off. Over the course of the weekend, the 8u team went 5-0 and the 14u team went 6-1, all leading to their eventual victory.

Head coach of 8u, Raymond Vasquez, has been coaching softball for four years. Their ultimate goal was to use all of their other tournament experiences to build them into the championship worth team they became. “We all had to work together to accomplish these goals as a team and a Key West Lady Conchs family,” Vasquez explains. Along with a stacked team of players, a large coaching staff helped develop these girls playing skills.

8u team and coaching staff show off the #1 after winning the championship game. Coaches (left to right), Karl Malsheimer, Eric Brown, Raymond Vasquez, Sherman Hamlin, Cody Dickerson, Jason Garcia, Missy Bracher, and Christina Pellicer. Players (left to right), Chloe Kongos, Gabby Pichardo, Eveline Zanetti, Aaliyah McLeod, Liana Brown, Jaelyn Estevez, Carlie Hamlin, Lucy Katz, Arianna Garcia, Charlie Bracher, Kaleaya Dickerson, and Summer Bailey all show faces of joy after their accomplishment.

Charley Bracher, 8, and the team’s catcher, experienced her first travel season this summer. When asked what her favorite part about being on a travel team, she elaborates, “That you can experience different spots on the field.”

The other winning team, the 14u squad, had high hopes from the beginning. The first two days of the tournament, they started at the top. They overpowered the teams they faced, not letting any runs in for those first five games. Head coach, Shawn Smith, has been coaching softball for almost 10 years. “With the experience and athleticism of this team, I had very high expectations and I encouraged them to have the same,” Smith states.

 

The 14u girls hug each other before one of their games on Saturday. (Top) Ty Marie Cervantes, Madeline Perusse, Sophia Wardlow, Caroline Smith, Scarlet Niles, Isabelle Franco, Montunique Van Staden, (bottom) Emily Bracher, Trecia Whetstone, Cheyenne Carr, and Ku’uleilani Haia all smile with the love they have for each other.

On Sunday, the final day of the games, they only had to win one game to win it all. If they lost, they would have to win the next game to take home first. That is exactly what they did. After losing the first game on Sunday, they walked into the second game with the mindset of winning, and winning only. “The truest test of character of a team and individual players is not how they handle success, but how they handle adversity,”Smith explains.

One of the four high school players on the team, Cheyenne Carr, has been playing softball for six years. “What I valued most about this team was that everyone was a leader, it wasn’t just one person being the ‘team captain’,” she explains. As these girls get older, they see the competition increase, but also strengthen the bonds they have with their teammates around them. “My teammates were like sisters to me and you don’t get that feeling with every team,” Cheyenne states.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]