WISE -- The women's softball team of Clinch Valley College won the state championship last weekend in a series of resounding victories over four other colleges. The Virginia College Slow Pitch Championship was held on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach, Virginia on April 25 and 26.

The ladies' first game was with Emory and Henry College on a beautiful Friday afternoon. The CVC team came back from an early inning shortage of runs to tie Emory in the bottom of the seventh inning. Emory managed to capture the victory in extra innings with the final score standing at a close 6-5. The tournament was a double elimination contest, so the women returned at noon on Saturday to take on the host school on their own field. CVC was highly motivated and effectively annhilated Virginia Weslyan College by a score of 12-4. Hie solid defense and excellent batting exhibited by CVC in the game proved to set a precedent for the rest of the day.

After an all too brief fifteen minute breather period, CVC returned to the field for another encounter with Emory and Henry College. This game was probably the most difficult of the entire tournament as it was hard fought on both sides. Emory was winning by a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but CVC caught up at their next chance at oat and held the lead when the game ended. The final score was 7-6 with CVC on top.

Granted another fifteen minute break, the CVC team inhaled McDonald's hamburgers and rested their weary limbs in preparation for their matchup with Hampton Institute. The Hampton team was emotionally charged and quite verbal in their evaluation of the game, but CVC won by a score of 10-6 using a strong defense to harness Hampton's batting lineup which included a rather high proportion of potential homerun hitters.

This victory was the third consecutive one for CVC and with their tournament record at 3-1. they were tied for first place with Hampton Institute, to the final game, Hampton batted first and was able to score a quick pair of runs. CVC batted at the bottom of that first inning and countered with a sequence of four runs. It was in this initial inning with CVC at bat with a base runner on second that the umpires called a time-out and began a discussion that was to persist for the better part of an hour. Hampton Institute was forced to forfeit the game when it was discovered that by removing the starting pitcher and placing her at third base, they had manipulated the batting order. Hampton pleaded ignorance of the full effect of the game rules, but was unsuccessful in their appeal of the umpire's decision.

Coach Pace praised her team and stated that the emotional togetherness shared by all members of the group proved to be the winning factor in the games. She also expressed her deep appreciation to assistant coaches, Bobby Waddell and Geri Lynn Wallace for their invaluable assistance. Members of Clinch Valley College's State Championship team are: Delcina Wilkerson, Judy Gooden, Natalie Grady, Jody Matthias, Brenda Lawson, Lisa Davis, Kelee Gonzalez, Mary Beth Yarbrough, Trish Olinger, Kathy Mahan, Lynn Johnson, and Lisa Caperton.

(NOTE - This release is presented as it was written in 1980. It is presented here in it's historical context, unedited, for archival and educational purposes. The only changes made were to space out the sentences in a more modern layout, and for corrections for spelling errors caused by the scanning process. Another change was made to reflect the games being played in Virginia Beach and not Norfolk, as was originally written in the opening paragraph. The games were at Virginia Beach and mentioned so in several other instances.)