Two sayings come to mind when summarizing the last week of the 2002 season for the 18U Shamrocks. One is “It is better to be lucky than good.” The other – “If it weren’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all.” “Snake-bit” also comes to mind – something that did in fact happen at the beginning of the summer when outfielder Kelly Brown was bitten by a copperhead snake on the ankle and was out for two weeks.

      The Shamrocks rolled into Oklahoma on a high and full of confidence. After all, they sported an impressive 59-3 record and had just gone 10-0 and won the PONY National Championship in Raleigh, NC. Skeptics might argue that ASA Gold Nationals is another level but the “Rocks” had already proved they could compete on that level as well when they won an ASA Gold Qualifier in Indianapolis that featured 4 of the teams at Gold Nationals and had placed 3rd in the Independence Day Tournament in Colorado that featured at least half of the field at Gold Nationals. In addition, one of the California Cruisers coaches stated that the word out of California is that the Shamrocks are very good – an opposing parent even predicted a top 5 finish. So with confidence and respect on their side, the Shamrocks had high expectations and felt that with a little bit of luck, they could be playing on Sunday – the final day of the tournament. As it turned out, the Shamrocks had a lot of luck but it was all “bad”.

      It began in the first pool game when the Shamrocks took a 3-2 lead into the final frame vs. Gainesville, FL only to yield 2 home runs and turn a 3-2 win into a 4-3 loss. Christy Anch then improved her record to 33-0 with a 6-4 win over Strike Zone, CA. Anch also ignited a 6 run second inning when she hit a towering 2-run home run over the left field fence and for a minute, things were looking up for the Shamrocks. But scoring ahead of Anch on the HR was first baseman Dani Woods who had been hit by a pitch in the right elbow area and later found out she had suffered a chipped bone and was lost for 6 weeks. Woods was a big loss to say the least – the power hitting lefthander finished with a .407 batting average including 15 doubles, 9 triples, 12 home runs, 62 rbi and a .786 slugging percentage. For those pondering fate and what could have been – had the Shamrocks held on to win game 1, the game 2 opponent would have been the Phoenix Storm and perhaps Woods would have survived. Instead, it was the beginning of the end for the Shamrocks.

      The next stroke of bad luck came at the afternoon draw prior to the beginning of the elimination rounds. There were 2 play in games (4 teams) in order to narrow the 66 team field down to 64 in the winner’s bracket. Needless to say, the Shamrocks, who drew 58th out of 66 teams managed to draw one of the play-in games vs. the East Cobb Bullets from Georgia. Christy Anch led 2-1 in the 3rd inning when the lead off hitter hit a hard line drive back at Anch. With the ball heading for Anch’s head, she managed to get her pitching hand up just in time to save her head but may have suffered a cracked hand in the process. With swollen fingers and a great deal of pain, Anch managed to finish what turned out to be an extra inning affair although her usual effective rise ball was average at best and the Shamrocks fell 7-2 in 9 innings. Following the game, Anch was diagnosed with at least a deep bone bruise and possible crack in her pitching hand.

      The next day the Shamrocks faced elimination in the loser’s bracket minus Woods and Anch and if that weren’t enough, their first loser’s bracket game was also a play-in (extra game) game. The Shamrocks battled a tough California Lite team and overcame a 3-run home run in the first inning to make it 3-2 entering the last inning. CF Erin Puente led off with a single and later scored on a 1 out rbi double from Kelly Brown to tie the game at 3. But in the bottom of the 7th as bad luck would have it, the California Lite managed a 2 out single down the right field line to plate the winning run and the Shamrocks were eliminated 4-3.

      When all was said and done, the Shamrocks had at some point during the year, defeated 3 teams who finished in the top 10 as follows: defeated 4th place finisher Fresno Force 2-0 in Colorado; defeated 7th place finisher Strike Zone 6-4 in pool play at Nationals; defeated 9th place finisher Anaheim Batbusters 3-0 in Colorado. This year’s ASA Gold National Champions, the Orange County Batbusters defeated the Shamrocks 9-4 in the semi-finals in Colorado. CF Erin Puente led the team with a .375 batting average and 3 rbi. Christy Anch finished her Shamrock career going 33-1 with a 0.44 ERA and 292 strikeouts. Ironically, Anch’s only loss of the year was the last game she pitched in a Shamrock uniform and she was unable to play in her very last game as a Shamrock due to injury. Anch and the Shamrocks were snake-bit - to say the least.