TAMPA - There is a group of area teenaged girls who came together a few weeks ago for a little adventure, which has steadily - dramatically and joyfully - turned into a much bigger ordeal.
You could call it a "softball odyssey."
It started on June 11 when 14 all-star girls from West Tampa, Bayshore and Keystone Little Leagues combined at their first practice to form the "Key-West-Bay" team.
What followed was relative magic, or rather eight straight victories by a combined score of 105-17 and a state title in the Junior Little League Softball division (ages 13-14).
Next stop: The Southeast Regional Tournament July 20-22 in North Carolina against teams from West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina.
A victory there would propel Tampa's team onto the World Series July 29-August 4 in Washington state.
It would also cause the girls' parents much more flipping and flopping of work schedules, vacation plans, bank accounts, laundry, pet sitters, accommodations and so on. For example, first baseman Amara Woodward flew in from a family vacation in Wyoming on a Friday evening, hit five buckets of softballs at a batting cage that night, then got up at 5 a.m. on Saturday and rode four hours with the family to play in a state tournament game in St. Augustine.
"There have been some traveling challenges," said Sarah Woodward, Amara's mother. "But it's all been worth it. It's been a blast!"
Woodward said it's not like a travel ball tournament where you just play games: "The difference is that with this format you earn your way. You have to win to keep moving on. It's exciting."
So far, the toughest stage actually proved to be the first one, the district final against a group combined from Interbay, Tampa Bay and Northwest Little Leagues. Key-West-Bay swept the series 13-6 and 12-8, which surprised a few folks and, quite frankly, a few Key-West-Bay players.
"We knew (Interbay-Tampa Bay-Northwest) was probably favored but we just came in loose and had fun with it," said second baseman Jessica Ficarrotta, a Robinson High sophomore who played last year on a team that reached the Southeast Regionals before losing. "That's the thing with this team, we're just playing hard and having fun. We don't feel any pressure."
Third baseman Saylor Clark said the magic stems from everybody liking each other from the first moment they met a few weeks ago.
"It has been a short amount of time that we've played together but I feel we are all close," said Clark, who will be a freshman at Sickles High. "We already have a strong bond."
Could Key-West-Bay go all the way?
"I think it just might be possible," said Key-West-Bay manager Tony Roman, who cited another local team from South Tampa that won a World title in 2013. "I don't know exactly what these other teams in our region have, but I know we have great hitters, solid pitching and defense and a great attitude.
"I know we're going to enjoy the adventure."
Contact Scott Purks at hillsnews@tampabay.com.
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