The Buckingham County Darlings All-Star team experienced a pair of lopsided losses but also orchestrated a pair of lopsided wins during the 2018 Virginia Dixie Softball Darlings State Tournament in Farmville, demonstrating that Buckingham’s stream of softball talent continues to flow.

The team’s journey in the tourney began July 13 with a game against the Halifax National All-Stars. Buckingham fell 12-4 in this contest, but its offense came to life in the days that followed.

On Saturday, the Buckingham girls eliminated the Emporia-Greensville All-Star team, handing it a 23-12 defeat.

The offensive onslaught continued the next day when Buckingham faced the host team, the Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association (PEFYA) All-Stars. Aided also by an outstanding defensive performance, the Buckingham girls won 22-1, eliminating PEFYA.

However, their run came to an end Monday when they faced the eventual state champion Amherst American All-Stars, falling 13-0.

“Honestly, Amherst just has a lot better bats than we do,” Buckingham Manager Brandon Morris said Monday, referring to the opposing team’s offensive skills. “They can just really hit the ball very well. Our girls did not hit the ball very well tonight, and when they did hit it hard, they hit it right to them.”

But Morris was pleased with what he saw from his players during the tournament.

“Overall, I’m very proud of these girls,” he said. “These girls worked very hard to get here, and they did great.”

He said most of them have been working since January.

The team was formed from two regular season teams that constituted a pool of 20 players to choose from.

Morris estimated that “half of my team can still play this age group next year. Half of them have to move up.”