Parkville Girls Win National Softball Championship

After going undefeated in seven games in a double-elimination tournament, the Parkville girls Thunder brought home the American Softball Association's under-14 eastern national championship.

The tournament, played at Laurel Springs Regional Park in La Plata, MD, from Aug. 3-6, featured 40 softball teams from up and down the East Coast. The Parkville girls were at the top of the winners' bracket after the seventh round, but still had to face their toughest opponent.

Coach Kevin Klimko explained that in the finals of the tournament, the team at the top of the winners' bracket is slated against the best team in the losers' bracket—so his undefeated girls were matched up against the Blaze from Bethlehem, NY; a team with only one loss.

The Blaze had to defeat the Thunder in two consecutive games to take the championship, and the New Yorkers managed to take down the first game of the series, 7-5.

"We had dominated the tournament," Klimko said of his team. "We scored an average of 11 runs each game, while allowing only two."

The Thunder rallied in the second game, however, and with Klimko's daughter, 14-year-old Keri Klimko of Parkville, pitching they put out the Blaze and won the championship, scoring five runs and allowing only two.

Kevin Klimko named 13-year-old Miranda Lobus as the Thunder's most valuable player of the tournament.

"She batted over .500 for the tournament, hit the only home run to go over the fence, and she just dominated pitching. She was 7-1 pitching in the tournament,” Klimko said.

Klimko also named several other players critical to his team's success:

• Shortstop Beth Medore, an incoming sophomore at Parkville High who played varsity her freshman year, led the team in batting for the tournament.

• In the outfield, Brooke Samios-Uy, a Parkville resident and incoming freshman at Eastern Tech, played a "magnificent" defensive game throughout the tournament, Klimko said.

• At second base, Alex Wankel, an incoming freshman at Parkville High, made several game-saving plays.

• At third base, Miranda Merkley, an Overlea resident and incoming freshman at Catholic High, had several clutch hits throughout the tournament.

"This is huge for us," Klimko said of his team's championship win. "This is the biggest tournament we play in all year, the softball program [at Parkville Rec] has been very successful for us, and obviously it's come to fruition with this national championship."