JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We all know Duval County is sports-crazed. We talk about high school, college and pro sports success all of the time. But these athletes start building their careers on little league rec teams, where you can see a glimmer of an athlete’s success begin to shine.
“Hey, hey what do you say?”
“Jax Beach all the way.”
As the Tsunami 10U softball team sits in the dugout screaming the team chant, the 9 to 11-year-old girls have big smiles on their faces and are holding up their state championship ring with a ton of pride.
The 11-player roster is stacked with talent. You would think by how close they are, that they have been playing together for a long time. But it is only their first season together.
“In the beginning, it was a little hard getting to know people that were coming in and then at the end, it was really awesome because we all became best friends,” Tsunami 10U catcher Maddox Heilig said.
Tsunami competes in the Jax Beach Softball League, a rec league made up of Jacksonville area athletes. They practice at Wingate Park twice a week. After five months their hard work on the field culminated in a state championship.
“It’s amazing. I didn’t think that we would be here,” Tsunami 10U softball head coach Rhory Benjamin said. “I knew they had the talent. I knew they had the ability, the drive. It was a matter of if they could mentally pull it together and work it out on the field. They did. They pulled it together and it feels great. It lets you know that all your work you did throughout the season paid off.”
The girls won the Babe Ruth Open Bracket State Championship at the end of June. They went undefeated in the tournament, winning all six games.
“I was on the mound and we were the last in the field,” Tsunami 10U pitcher Olivia Shaffer said. “It was amazing to win, but I also kind of felt bad because the last strikeout was one of my best friends and she was upset so I was like ‘sorry’.”
The No. 3 seed Tsunami competed in a 17-team bracket. They beat another Duval County team, the Attitude, 2-1 in the state final.
For most girls on the roster, this is not their first title. Last season many girls were on the Tsunami 8U team that also won a state championship.
This is the first and last state championship for the current team as head coach Rhory Benjamin will be moving up to 12U with his daughter next year.
“Not many get to go so it’s great that we have an opportunity to be able to do it and get to go and have fun and do our job,” Shaffer said.
Tsunami competes in two tournaments a month leading up to the state championship. They concluded the season with a 29-15-2 record. Coach Benjamin says his assistant coaches: Sydney Joshua and Christine Flannagan played key roles in the team’s success.
Six other Jacksonville district softball teams in various age groups competed in the state finals, showing the local dominance in the area’s youth sports. The Fort Caroline Association’s 12U Phenoms are one of the six district teams to win a state championship.
To find out more information on the Jax Beach Softball League, click here.