August 16, 2005

Virginia Tech incoming freshman softball player Jessica Everhart spent her final weekend before moving into her dorm room helping her club team win a national championship. Everhart, a Purcellville, Va., native, played right field and hit as the designated player as the Virginia Shamrocks went 7-0 en route to the Amateur Softball Association's 18-and-Under Gold National Championship in Salinas, Calif.

The Gold Nationals Tournament is the largest and most prestigious in club softball as 64 teams earned bids to the tournament and then fought for the title over a one-week span.

The Shamrocks opened with a 2-0 win over the second-seeded California Cruisers, one of the pre-tournament favorites, and then beat the Georgia Fire 1-0 in eight innings.

Everhart, who is expected to battle for the starting outfield spot at Tech, had the game-winning RBI in a 4-2, 11-inning win over Beverly Bandits when she came up with an RBI single in 11^th inning. The Shamrocks then picked up a 5-1 win over the Worth Firecrackers before rolling to a 9-0, five-inning win over the Corona Angels. In that game, Everhart had an RBI double.

In the semifinals, the Shamrocks downed the Arizona Hotshots, 1-0, to reach the title game. After the Hotshots won in the losers' bracket, the two met again in the final.

The Shamrocks-Hotshots contest was the first-ever Gold championship game which did not involve a California team. Second in 2003, the Shamrocks are the only East Coast team to reach the Gold finals.

Everhart and the Shamrocks completed the improbable run to the title with a 3-1 win over the Hotshots and Everhart picked up a two-out single in championship game.

The Shamrock Softball Club is one of the more successful teams around and has featured current Hokies Kelly Brown, Angela Tincher and Caitlin Murphy, as well as former Tech players Sarah Prosise, Maura Green and Lauren Koelemay.

Everhart is one of five signees in the 2005 recruiting class who will report to campus this week. The freshmen, along with returnees and walk-on hopefuls take to the field next week for fall practice. The Hokies will participate in a fall scrimmage against Longwood on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Tech Softball Park and will host their fall tournament at Salem, Va., Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Tech will hold its annual alumni game on Sunday, Oct. 9. The 2006 schedule should be released in the upcoming weeks.