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By TERRY JONES
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 2, 2001
TAMPA -- After a slow start and a pair of losses in pre-tournament seeding games, the 10-and-under Tampa Mustangs came back to place second at the International Softball Association B World Series on July 18-22 in Covington, Ga.
Megan Fenzau, Becky Vyzas, and Justine and Ashley McCoy all turned in outstanding performances throughout the tournament and were selected to the ISA B All-Tournament team. In pre-tournament seeding games, the Mustangs dropped both of their games -- 7-1 to the Palm Beach Panthers and 3-2 to the Georgia Storm.
"After the seeding games, the girls came out strong," coach Temple Drummond said.
Despite a low seeding, the Mustangs stepped up to the task of battling top teams early. The tournament opener was against the Lake Lytal Tigers, the Florida champion from the National Softball Association tournament. Behind strong pitching from Suzy Piercy and the consistent power hitting of Vyzas, the Mustangs blew away the Tigers 19-2.
Vyzas was 4-for-4 in the game with a triple and a double.
In its second game, the team beat the Venice Vipers 7-4, followed by a big 9-1 win over the North Cherokee (Ga.) Lightning. Piercy captured her second win of the tournament against the Lightning.
The Mustangs then fell into the loser's bracket after an 11-10 loss to the Lakeland Wild Things in extra innings despite three hits apiece from Ashley McClain and Ashley McCoy. Facing elimination, Fenzau turned around the team's momentum with her work on the mound, throwing an 8-4 victory over the Little Twisters. The win put the Mustangs into the final four and two wins short of a berth in the championship game. First came a 9-6 victory against the Palm Beach Panthers, one of the teams the Mustangs lost to in the seeding games. Then came a 10-3 win against Lakeland, earning the Mustangs a third game in less than eight hours.
"Playing their third game in a row (in one day) turned out to be more than the girls could overcome," Drummond said.
Sarasota Quicksilver ended the Mustangs' hopes of a World Series title with a 12-4 victory in the championship game.
"Overall, it was a good tournament as our girls went 6-2 in the double-elimination portion of the tournament and placed four on the All-Tournament team," Drummond said.
Other players on the team included Jordy Raburn, Brittany May, Kelsey Horton, Catarina and Francesca Corsini, Sara Drummond, Brooke Von Pusch and Kirstin Austin.
Rick Von Pusch, Jim Horton and Rodney Raburn assisted with the coaching duties.
MORE MUSTANGS: In one of its toughest tournaments this summer, the 16-and-under Tampa Mustangs placed second to the Colorado Commotion in the United States Specialty Sports Association World Tournament, held July 25-29 in Haines City.
The Mustangs posted a 9-2 record in five days, scoring 76 runs while yielding only six.
"Both our losses were to the Commotion," coach Ray Seymour said. "We beat them last month (June) in a tournament in Colorado. They are just a great team.
"Our defense played exceptionally well all week. We lost our catcher, Krista Jessup, for much of the tournament. She would have made a big difference."
Beth DiPietro, Amanda Cody, Darlene Hollister and Missy Zick made the USSSA All-World team.
Also playing for the Mustangs were Sarah Cook, Nikki Delandy, Crystal Folwell, Carly Griffin, Natlie Ippolito, Kaycie Maines and Laura Templeton.
During the six years this team has been playing together, it has won six national championships and placed second three times.
"We really wanted to make this the seventh national title," Seymour said. "We still have the Amateur Softball Association World Series next week (August 8-12) in Normal, Ill. Maybe that will be lucky seven."