The Craig County 10-and-Under girls’ softball team was set to play in the Roanoke Area Youth Softball Association championship game as the paper went to press this week for early 4th of July deadlines.
The Craig girls were on a spectacular run heading into the championship, having won four straight games after losing their opener. The Rockets lost to North Roanoke-Shepherd at Darrell Shell Park to open the tournament on Sunday, June 24, but came roaring back with four straight wins.
The streak began Monday night with a 4-1 win over the South County Cardinals. Tuesday’s games were rained out, but the Rockets won twice at the Moyer Complex in Salem on Wednesday, beating Vinton and North Roanoke-Huddleston.
Thursday’s semifinal was exciting, as the Rockets took on the South County Marlins. Craig fell behind early but caught up and tied the Marlins at 10-10, forcing extra innings. South County scored a run in the top of the inning, but the Rockets rallied to score twice in the bottom of the inning and win the game, 12-11, on a walk-off hit.
Craig was scheduled to play North Roanoke-Shepherd, the only team to beat them, on Friday at Darrell Shell Park. The Rockets needed to beat NR twice to win the championship, since that team was still undefeated.
Craig County coaches are Debbie Boitnotte, Nicole Zimmerman and Roland Donithan.
