FAST-PITCH TOURNAMENT ATTRACTS 44 TEAMS

The action is fast and furious as 44 girls fast-pitch softball teams battle throughout the weekend at the Shawnee Park Sports Complex.

Young ladies between the ages of 10 and 18 are participating in four divisions -- age 12 and under, 14 and under, 16 and under, and 18 and under -- in the fourth annual WASA

World Girls Fast-pitch Softball Tournament.

"We have teams from Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Wisconsin represented," said Fred Gould, tournament director and head of the Missouri division of WASA, the tournament sanctioning body.

WASA, a Midwest-based softball association with about 500 fast- and slow-pitch girls teams as members, has its Missouri headquarters in De Soto, Mo.

The competition is expected to be rugged as all teams advanced through various state qualifying systems to gain entry into the four-day tournament which began Thursday.

The 16 and under division looks especially tough with 20 of the 44 teams in that group.

Heartland Pride of Cape Girardeau is expected to be one of the better teams in that division, recently coming off a third-place finish in the Missouri state tournament. Other favorites include the St. Louis Chaos, Lamont (Ill.) Rockets and the Dupage (Ill.) Wildcats. The Kelso Magic is another local entrant.

In the 18 and under group, which appears to be fairly evenly matched, two St. Louis-area teams, the Renegades and the Marauders, may have a slight edge. Vines Farm of Cape Girardeau fields a team in this division.

The Jackson Cyclones and Jackson Rockets are in the 12 and under division, while Heartland Pride has a team entered in the 14 and under division, also.

The tournament format is a four-game guarantee for each team with pool play determining the brackets for the double-elimination finals, which will be held on Sunday.

Kaed Horrell, recreation director at Shawnee Park, said this is the largest event ever hosted at the complex.

"We're bringing in 44 teams and, of those, probably three-fourths are from out of this area, so we're bringing in quite a bit of money to the area motels and restaurants," said Horrell. "It's not just helping our park, it's helping the whole city of Cape Girardeau."