The Twisted Sisters 10U All-Star softball team, made up of primarily of players from New Tampa, Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel, weren’t so sure about their new Florida uniforms given to them by the organizers of the World Series Diamond Championship.
They didn’t fit right. Didn’t feel right. Didn’t look right.
So, after a slow start at the World Series in Lake City, FL, where the team went 3-3 in pool play and suffered consecutive losses for the first time all season, coach Otis Bass asked if his team could go back to their North Tampa All-Star uniforms.
Granted permission to do so, the Twisted Sisters didn’t lose again.
On Aug. 3, the team won three games, and on Saturday, Aug. 4, they rolled over Treasure Coast 7-0 to capture the Babe Ruth World Series 10U Diamond Championship.
“What a way to end it,” said Bass.
What a way indeed. On the morning she found out her great grandmother had passed away, pitcher Jordan Ankers pitched a no-hitter, outfielder Willa Soorus broke open a pitcher’s duel with a bases-clearing triple in the fourth inning, and catcher Allison McDuffie hit a home run the next inning to cap off a dramatic run to the title.
“It was a really cool moment,” said Bass, whose daughter Bella played second base and hit .458 with a team-best 10 RBI at the World Series and is one of four Hunter’s Green Elementary students on the team, along with Soorus, Eliza Connell and Skylah Stephens.
Bass said his roster was littered with standout players.
Ankers was dominant in the pitching circle and batted .385 on the way to being named to the All-10U World Series team.
Chelsea Anderson, a first baseman who also filled in at catcher when needed, played both positions so well at the World Series she was awarded a Gold Glove.
Soorus — “Our unsung hero throughout the World Series,” Bass said — led the team with a .538 batting average, while outfielder Lola Coole, who goes to Tampa Palms Elementary, was second with a .526 average. Third baseman Haley Horne batted .391 and was second on the team with 9 RBI.
Bass said every member of the Twisted Sisters contributed to the 7-3 record at the World Series, including outfielder Eliana Rivera (.357), shortstop Eliza Connell, Skylah Stephens and Turner/Bartels’ Grace Mercado.
Bass also credited his coaching staff — Jamie Ankers, Justin Horne and Devon and Mike Connell — with helping lead the team to an undefeated season in Xtreme Softball, a State championship and World Series title.
“We knew we had great pitching and could hit well, and were fast and smart on the basepaths,” Bass said. “We had them battle-tested, and knew we had a pretty good team here.”
