Although both schools finished 4-0, Statesboro High School finished as the runners-up at the Battle in the Boro behind champions Camden County Saturday afternoon.
    “I love this facility and I love these fields,” said Camden County head coach Melany Corsi. “Jim does a great job organizing it. It would be nice if we could get a couple of more competitive teams in here, but what had this year was good too.”
    The first official tiebreaker was the head-to-head matchup, but since the two sides were never scheduled to play the next tiebreaker to decide the winner was run differential -- which Camden County held at a decisive +39 to Statesboro’s +16.
    “Our team did excellent this weekend,” Corsi said. “Both of our pitchers are freshman and were lights out. A great all-around team effort.”
    Both Corsi and Statesboro head coach Jim Simmons admitted they wished their teams could have played each other to decide at true champion, but Camden’s three hour drive time prevented it logistically with Statesboro playing the last game of the tournament at 1:00 p.m.
    “They allowed fewer runs, so they earned the win for sure,” Simmons said. “I think it would have been a good competitive game and I hoped to schedule them, but in keeping region opponents away from each other it just didn’t work out.”
    Statesboro started their run by edging Savannah Christian 7-6 in their first game on Friday and followed with a 15-4 romp of Trutlen County in the second game. On Saturday Statesboro nailed what had to be their most impressive win of the season with a 6-2 win over Brantley County. Brantley was 5-1 going into the game and ranked as one of the top 50 programs in Georgia by MaxPreps, giving Statesboro their first marqee win in 2016.
    After a 3-0 start, Statesboro opted to play their back-ups against Dublin in the final game of the tournament. The Blue Devil’s had already beaten Dublin 9-1 this season, so Simmons took the opportunity to develop what will be a big part of the future for Statesboro softball.
    However, down 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Simmons decided to start throwing his starters back in the game. McKenzi Wilkerson came through with a two-run triple to put Statesboro up 4-3 and would spur the rally in the frame to bring the Blue Devil’s ahead 5-3. After going back ahead 8-5, Dublin gave up a massive rally in the bottom of the seventh that saw a walkoff win for Statesboro -- keeping them perfect on the weekend.
    “We put the young girls in at first just to try and get them some playing time,” Simmons said. “Unfortunately we just couldn’t close it out so I had to throw in the starters to bring it home.”
    Overshadowed in the tournament was Statesboro improving to 9-4, which is their best start under Jim Simmons in his five season as head coach -- and it’s not even close. The Blue Devil’s
    have already eclipsed their win total from from last season’s eight and have nearly doubled their total wins from 2012-2014 alone.
    It’s unprecedented success from a team that’s been a perennial loser for nearly a decade, but give credit to Simmons, his staff and the community for instilling softball as a year-long lifestyle to his players. It was only a matter of time before players like Morgan Thompson and Brinson Anne Rogers came along to solidify those efforts and take Statesboro to the next level.
    “I’d like to say the girls come here with no experience and I wave a magic wand over them,” Simmons said. “But that’s not true. We help them develop, but we have better players now and the community has made travel ball a bigger emphasis. All of that helps.”
    After beating New Hempstead on Tuesday, Statesboro has a legitimate shot at making the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. It’s a lot of history hanging over the girls, but Simmons says he’ll keep his team looking forward and focused on region play.
    “We have a lot of tough opponents ahead of us,” Simmons said. “They’re enjoying playing together and they’re getting better.”
    Statesboro will kick back up region play on Tuesday when they face Ware County (7-4, 1-1) with first pitch set for 5p.m.