Texas East exploded for seven first-inning runs and never looked back as it went on top the Vidalia 14-and-under All-Stars 16-3 in the championship game of the Little League Softball Southwest Regional.

“They just out-hit us,” Vidalia coach Leigh Anne Mason said. “They can hit the ball, and we made a couple of errors early that we couldn’t bounce back from.”

Shelby Mason, Alyssa Howard, Shelbi Cross and Jensen Gremillion each recorded multiple hits with Howard recording a double. Howard also added an RBI hit in the fifth.

Savannah Spear and Makenna Patt each added a base hit.

Mason said her squad faced a strong pitcher from the Texas East side. The Vidalia All-Stars struck out a combined 13 times in the game.

“If we didn’t get a base hit, we struck out,” Mason said.

Despite falling short of their goal, Mason said she couldn’t be more pleased with squad’s strong tournament run.

“I’m so proud of the way they came together,” Mason said. “They battled to score a lot of runs, and we just enjoyed playing as a team. Playing in New Mexico, playing in the mountains, it was so nice.”