Rising Dawson County High School sophomore Layne Bailey was a part of the 14 and under travel softball team that won the USA Softball Junior Olympics Championship on Friday, June 25.
“You had to qualify for this,” Bailey said. “It was the best of the best. It’s not just from the Southeast. It’s a big deal for us because it’s a national tournament. It increases our rankings.”
“It was fun,” Bailey said. “Mlb.com showed our game on TV and it was a really cool experience.”
Bailey and the rest of the Atlanta Vipers moved up to be the No. 2 ranked team in the state according to the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) after their championship.
Bailey won Region 7-3A Freshman of the Year for the Lady Tigers last season, hitting .327 with 14 runs batted in alongside 39 strikeouts on the mound with a 3.86 earned run average.
The season is nowhere close to over for Bailey and the Vipers. The team traveled to Boulder, Colorado early on Monday, June 28, to get ready for another invite-only national tournament.