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July 12, 1998

        The South Boston Merchants went 3-2 in the NSA King of the Hill class C tournament in Rock Hill, SC. The Merchants won the first game 11-7, lost the second game 29-25 against Gary's Barbecue, and won the third game 25-20, all on Saturday. The fourth game was played  Sunday morning and the Merchants prevailed 27-15.  The Merchants were knocked out of the tournament in the fifth game Sunday afternoon by a score of 21-10.  The team was plagued all weekend  by double plays that ended the inning, many of which occurred with the bases loaded.  With a limited number of HRs available, it is also important to use them wisely, which SBM failed to do this weekend. 

        Leaders for the weekend were Kirk Barnes who went 18-22(.818), Earl Orme, 19-26(.731), and Scott Lester, Cordell Jackson, and Matt Hunt, who all went 16-24(.667). Homerun leaders were Chris Cole with 6, Earl Orme with 4, and Scott Lester with 4.  The Merchants next tournament will be in Salem at the NIT Men's Major.(YIKES!!!!)  Playing in the same tournament will be the nations top Major teams including Team TPS, Team Lighthouse, and Chase/Worth.

July 22, 1998

        Kevin Neal and W.J. Long took batting practice with Easton's Jimmy and Tot Powers. Check out the pic here.  They were very nice and gave many tips, many of which were needed. :)  The South Boston Merchants will be traveling to Salem, Va. this weekend to play in the N.I.T. Major.  They are slated to play Easton/Backstop at 8:00 am saturday morning. Easton/Backstop is currently ranked 12th   in the world. 

July 25, 1998  Dudley Major N.I.T.

            The South Boston Merchants rolled into Salem Friday night to get a good night sleep in preparation for the Major N.I.T.  South Boston was matched up against Backstop/Easton at 8am saturday morning and got hammered 32-2.  Backstop finished 4th out of the 19 teams in the tourney.  Then South Boston got sent home by lunch time by Allison's, a AA team out of North Carolina.   Again the score was not pretty...30-13.  Kevin Neal had  a .714 on base % with Robbie Cheek and Matt Wallace at  .667.  It was fun watching the Major teams play.  Rusty Bumgardner and J.C. Phelps, both of Team TPS, hit some unreal homeruns.  Bumgardner lead the homerun race with 19 dingers.  Lighthouse/Worth won the tournament 6-0.  The South Boston Merchants will go next weekend to Petersburg, Va. to play in a class B N.I.T.  Click here for a pic from this weekend.

August 8-9, 1998  NSA North Carolina State Championship,  Charlotte, NC

          The South Boston Merchants went 4-2 this weekend to finish 5th in the field of 24 in the North Carolina NSA Class C State Championship.  SBM opened the weekend with a 1-run loss to Wardrobe Softball to fall into the loser's bracket.  The team, however, bounced back with a 5-inn. run-rule victory over Dogtown/CarCon, 21-5.  The next team in the path of the SoBo Express was Bostic.  They fell in similar fashion, 21-4 in 5 inn.  SBM continued to roll in the next game against Triad Merchants, as they cruised to a 15-0 lead early in the game.   Triad's bats came alive a bit to make it fairly close, but South Boston was never really threatened in this one.  Final:  17-10.  Next in line was Piedmont Maintenance from nearby Roxboro, N.C.  After an early lead of 10-2, South Boston was challenged in the late innings of this contest, but held on for a 13-9 victory, as Piedmont came up short in the top of the 7th.  In South Boston's fourth game in just six hours, they faced Gary's BBQ.  SBM jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first with 6 runs.  This game was back-and-forth most of the way, until SBM failed to answer in the bottom of the sixth.  Gary's added 2 more in the top of the seventh, but the SoBo Express was out of steam. They could only plate 2 runs, with 2 of the 3 outs in the inning coming on HRs that counted as outs.  Final score: a 16-22 loss.  The intense heat and humidity made it increasingly more difficult for the team to continue its march through the loser's bracket.  S&D Associates finished 1st,   Brantley Constr. 2nd,  Gary's BBQ 3rd,  Wardrobe 4th,  and SBM 5th.   TEAM LEADERS:  Earle Orme 22-28 (.786 1HR),  Scott Lester 19-25 (.760 3HR).  Although the tournament was played on 320 ft. fields with 10 ft. high fences, SBM used all the HRs that they were allowed within the rules.      

August 15-16 State Championship, Petersburg VA

WE WON!  Click here for pics!

     The South Boston Merchants went 4-0 to win the USSSA Virginia State Tournament in Petersburg, VA August 15-16.   South Boston was ranked #1 in the state, so they received a first round bye (along with 2 other teams).  In the opening game, SBM faced the high-scoring Rattlers from the Eastern Shore.  SBM jumped out with 8 in the 1st, only to have the Rattlers score 9 in their half of the 2nd to take a 10-8 lead.  SBM broke it open in the 5th, however.  Trailing 11-18, SBM plated 10 straight batters to take a 21-18 lead.   SBM scored 4 more in the 6th, and played superb defense to preserve a 25-23 victory.  In the next game, South Boston faced a strong team assembled from players from all over the state, Shen Valley Trailers.  SBM set the tone early in this one as they exploded for 14 runs in the top of the 1st.  Shen Valley came back with 8 of their own to make it 14-8 after one complete.  This game was filled with awesome defensive stops by SBM to halt any attempt at a come back rally from Shen Valley, as SBM continued to score consistently.  Final score, 28-19.  In the undefeated game Sunday morning, SBM faced The Mattress and Springs Softball from the Richmond/Petersburg area.  This game started with several line drive outs as Mattress and Springs built a small 5-0 lead.  South Boston never gave up as they stayed close enough to strike in the bottom of the 6th with 2 timely homers for a 12-10 lead.  Mattress and Springs came up short in the top of the 7th to make the final, 12-11.  In the championship game, South Boston faced a very powerful team from Richmond, VA., Harrison's.   Harrison's scored quickly in this one to build a 9-2 lead, but SBM, as they did all weekend, answered the call by sending 12 straight batters to the plate and scoring them all for 14-9 lead.  When Harrison's would fight back, SBM would pull away.   Harrison's drew within 2 in the top of the 6th, but South Boston proved it was their weekend as they scored 7 more big runs in the bottom of the inning to increase the lead to 25-16.  South Boston prevailed with great defense, by snaring 3 hard liners in the top of the 7th, to win 25-19 and capture the 1998 VA State Championship.   Final standings:  South Boston Merchants 1st,   Harrison's 2nd,    The Mattress and Springs 3rd,   Demolition 4th,   Shen Valley Trailers 5th (tie),   Jimmy's Automotive 5th (tie)

     Kevin Neal was awarded MVP for his outstanding pitching and defense on the mound, as well as toting a .700 average and many RBI.  Every player contributed greatly to the championship win.  Team leaders:  Mark Carter (.765), Chris Cole (.650), and Tom Harris (.642)

September 7, 1998

     The Merchants went 1-2  in the Class B Atlantic Coast Tournament in Petersburg, VA.   SBM could not match their state tourney winning form in this one, as they struggled out of the gates in a low scoring loss to Jake's from Georgia, 7-16.   Then, South Boston faced an old nemesis from NC, a very powerful DJ's club that has been a top team in the region for several years.  This was a tough battle back and forth, with SBM prevailing by the score of 23-21.   This pitted South Boston against another NC powerhouse, Scott Farms, who had been shocked in the previous game, to send them to the loser's bracket.  After falling behind early, SBM managed to fight back to make it close, only to come up short.  The final, 16-24.   South Boston Merchants had a few different faces in the field for this weekend, and could never seem to get going.   That is not to take anything away from the very strong field of teams in this year's Atlantic Coast Tournament.  The final placings were as follows:   1st-American Electric, Tampa, FL,   2nd-Jimmy's Automotive, VA,    3rd-Scott Farms, NC.

September 19-20 / 26-27

     Most of The South Boston Merchants players have played in two local tournaments the past two weekends under the name Barksdale Insurance Agency.   The following SBM players participated in both weekends:  Earle Orme, Chris Cole, Kevin Neal, Matt Hunt, W.J. Long, Curtis Duffer, Scott Lester,  Kirk Barnes and coach Cary Barksdale.  The team "picked up" various other players when they needed enough to field a team.   The Merchants went 8-0 in these tournaments.  Also present in one of these tournaments were the Class D state champs, Riptide, and the Class D state runners-up, D & E Lightning, both from the South Boston area.   SBM hadn't entered a local tournament in months, and it was fun to just relax and play against local softball players and fans without having to travel.  These games did not affect the statistics page because we try to only count them in official USSSA or NSA sanctioned events.  The South Boston Merchants will be on the road again in two weeks at the Fall State Tournament in Salem, VA.

 

 

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