by Ryan Greenwood – Fastpitch Network
Most softball travel organizations do not see success on a national level, and an even greater majority of them will never win a national championship within their first three years of competing. For the Virginia Unity organization those two goals of going national and winning a national championship, became reality when they won the 2017 ASA/USA Softball 18U Gold National Championship.
To genuinely appreciate the accomplishment of the Virginia Unity, you must understand just how it all started the small town of Fredericksburg in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the fall of 2014 with just one 18U level team. Josh Johnson, with the assistance of Mark Ratcliff and Ritchie Jacobs, had the vision to create a better opportunity for the talented softball players in the local area.
“I was a local high school coach getting out of education and several of the girls and parents from the high school team wanted me to continue to coach them,” stated Johnson. “I got wife’s approval and we sought out and got the best players in the area using the local paper’s All-Area team.”
