~ Special to the Bedford Citizen
In early January, on one of the coldest nights of the winter, the Bedford Bolts U12 tournament softball team began pre-season workouts indoors at the Tyngsboro Sports Center. More than half a year later, in the scorching heat of a July weekend, the Bolts finished up a stretch of seven games over two days to bring home their third trophy of the summer in the Milford Summer Slam tournament, falling in the championship game to an out-of-state team from Connecticut.
In between, the girls and coaches spent countless hours practicing and playing spring softball in Bedford, and over the course of the summer tournament season went 16-9-1 over five weekends of play in June and July. The Bolts were competitive in every tournament and earned second place honors in Billerica, Natick, and Milford.
The Summer Slam tournament featured 16 teams from across the region. The Bolts dispatched the Rhode Island Storm and Nipmuc Warriors on Saturday before falling to the hosts from Milford in a hotly-contested 7-2 matinee but secured the #6 seed with their victories. Sunday featured hard-fought wins over Westwood, Hopedale, and Scituate, before the late afternoon final against Southington, CT.
According to Bolts manager Dawn Troast, “This group worked hard at their fundamentals all winter and it paid off in a very successful summer. The character and class they showed on and off the field impressed me every week as they came together as a team.”
Bolts U12 Roster includes Asalie Brosgol), Chelsea Busch, Sara Colangelo, Dani D’Ascoli, Nicole D’Ascoli, Elora Fennell, Georgia Foley, Victoria Khoury, Elise McEachern, Riley McKenna, Nina Melfi, Keira Pandya, Maddy Thompson, and Elizabeth Trant.
As opposed to regional tournament teams, which regularly charge $2000-$3000, the Bolts provide a framework for year-round training and development, and a full slate of tournament play, for only $600. Tryouts for U14 and U12 teams will be announced soon.
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