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Baseliners seek another crown
Since mid-June, the Sterling-based Baseliners 12U travel softball team has won three state championships -- Amateur Softball Association (ASA), National Softball Association (NSA) and Protect Our Nation's Youth (PONY). Now team members are preparing for their second consecutive appearance in the USA/ASA Class A Nationals beginning July 27.
"This [will be] the highest level of play within the country," said Baseliners' fourth-year coach Craig Kurtz of the impending national tournament set for Montgomery, Ala.
This year, Kurtz has guided his squad to a 71-8-3 overall record, including 48-5-1 since the start of spring and a 28-2 mark since June 1. He uses a three-pitcher rotation, each with a distinctive style, all supported by an offense batting at a .324 clip.
"They've been the key to our success," Kurtz said of his hurlers.
Success has been mounting for the Baseliners since the team tested itself in last year's USA/ASA Nationals, in which the group of mostly 11-year-olds placed 49th of 64 participants, facing elite competition from year-round programs from warmer climes.
"We learned a lot then," Kurtz said.
The Baseliners appear to have learned well. Of the 13 tournaments entered since, the team has captured seven titles and hasn't finished lower than third. Its only loss in the Firecracker Classic, held July 5-6 in Sterling, came at the hands of its sister squad, the 14U Baseliners.
Kurtz attributes much of his team's success to the roster's continuity, as six Baseliners have taken the field together for three straight years.
"They get a lot of pride representing their community," said Kurtz, whose players hail from Herndon and Purcellville as well as Sterling.
The team members, who have traveled to Salem, Petersburg and Smithfield for their recent state titles, will again represent their community in Alabama with the aim of improving upon last year's showing.
"That's what I define success as -- achieving better than we did before," declared Kurtz, whose motto is “A+: All Positive.”
What the Baseliners achieve at the national tournament will be posted on the team's Web site at baseliners.org/12.
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