Holloway helps team win Senior Softball World Series
The Southeast Region team of Little League Senior Softball won the 2016 Senior Softball World Series at the Lower Sussex Little League Complex in Roxana, Delaware, Sunday, Aug. 7. Helping the team to a 3-0 win over Canada in the championship game was Pine Island resident Hannah Holloway, who played second base for the team.
Holloway, 15, a sophomore at Mariner High School, has been playing softball most of her life. “I started when I was about 5 years old,” Holloway said. “I participated in the Junior Olympics from Kindergarten on up competing in the 50-yard dash, Frisbee competition and long jump. I played T-Ball for years and then started playing softball when I was 7.”
Holloway played softball in 7th, 8th and 9th grades at Trafalgar Middle School in Cape Coral.
“I enjoy volleyball, too, but softball is my favorite sport,” Holloway said. “I played second and third base and pitched.”
Holloway is also on the varsity team at Mariner High School.
“Hannah broke records there, had the most hits and most innings pitched,” mother Patty Holloway said. “She missed the highest in most strikeouts by just two strikeouts. The winner had 230 and Hannah had 228.”
According to the website (www.softballworld-series.com), “Girls from around the world come not only to compete against one another, but create life-long friendships and lasting memories.”
“It was really cool meeting people from different cultures like the Czech Republic, China, Philippines and even Canada,” Holloway said. “We know very little about their cultures but they know all about ours. We all were singing ‘Adele’ songs.”
“As we went through the playoffs, it got more and more exciting because the competition got better,” Holloway said. “Leading up to, and starting the World Series game, we were confident we would win. Nicole Rodriguez threw a perfect game into the sixth inning and was pitching at close to 60 mph. We held the opposing team to one hit and no runs. I got one hit and we beat Canada 3-0.”
The game was televised on ESPN. ESPN televises every softball division championship and semi-final games of the Little League, Senior League and Big League Softball World Series.
“I hope I can get a copy of the game on CD,” Holloway said.
“When we arrived at the airport there was a great homecoming for us,” Holloway said. “There were maybe 50 or 60 people waiting for us. “I want to thank the Bobby Holloway Memorial Fund, Lee and Jerry, Mat Griffith Air Conditioning, D&D Bait and Tim Whittingslow for their help that enabled Hannah to do this,” Holloway said. “This was the experience of a lifetime.”