By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

It has been a busy summer for the Southside Diamonds. The Diamonds are an under 18 softball team made up of players from Fayette County and their play has taken them to the NSA State Tournament, as well as across the Atlantic Ocean on a European tour. The team is full of some of the more premier players from the local high school programs and they are used to winning.

A European tour can be a little overwhelming to professional players, but the Diamonds find the experience to be old hat now. They played in an international tournament in Oldenzaal, Netherlands last year and took first place. This year's trip was more of a tour and gave the girls a chance to play some exhibition type matches.

The trip began with a game against the British National Women's team, who were looking to strengthen their skills before the 2000 Olympics. The field conditions were not great. In fact, there was no softball field, so the girls played on a local rugby field. At the end of their final game, the British team gave the Diamond players their jerseys in a team gift trade.

After England, the Diamonds cruised through the Chunnel to France and the onto Amsterdam to face the Hoofdorf Women's softball club, the Pioneers. The game ended in a tie because the pioneer coach only wanted to play one inning of International Tie Breaker. The Diamonds then took on the Ragerf Thamen Women's softball club from Uithoorn, winning and experiencing people and places with different lifestyles and languages.

The Diamonds were back stateside for the NSA State Tournament the weekend of the Fourth of July. They defeated their first opponent, Greased Lightning, by a score of 6-0. All of the runs came in the third inning after Chrissy Lunsford was hit with a pitch and scored on an error. The Diamonds produced eight hits in the inning and scored six runs. Ashley Embrey pitched the shutout.

Heather Kershaw pitched the next game for the Diamonds, who had held a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning against the Georgia Phoenix. Errors became costly for the Diamonds though and by the bottom of the sixth, they trailed 5-2. Lindsay Faircloth hit a sacrifice fly and Laura Gardner hit a base hit for an RBI but the Diamonds were all out of offense. The loss sent the Diamonds to the loser's bracket and a very tough draw.

The Diamonds played five games on Sunday. In the first match, the Diamonds beat the Lilburn Legends, 6-2. Ashley Embrey threw a one hitter, as the offense put together solid hits and base running for the win.

Next up was the East Cobb Bullits. The Southside Diamonds shut them out 4-0. Jennifer Hester and Lindsay Faircloth each had 2 RBIs in the win. The victory also kept the Diamonds active in the tournament.

In their third game on Sunday, the Diamonds played against the local favorites, the Rockdale Lady Jaguars. They secured their 3-0 win with timely hitting and base running again. Following that match, the Diamonds played the Brownsmill Lady Jackets (Gold). Heather Kershaw pitched a one-hitter and Laura Gardner produced two RBIs in the 3-1 win.

Laura Gardener produced the only run in the Diamonds 2-1 loss to the East Cobb Force. The Diamonds captured third place in the NSA State tounament and qualified to play in the NSA World Series later this month.

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