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Taylor Trent, of Charlotte County, holds her own among the best on the national-level Williamsburg Starz Gold travel softball team, and this summer, she helped the squad win the USA Softball 14U Eastern National Championship in Sterling.

Trent and the team, which included girls from all over Virginia, showed resilience after losing their first game in the double-elimination tournament.

The team’s head coach, Tony Short, said, “We were the better team, but sometimes things don’t go your way. It was a clean game, we just didn’t get the ball to fall. (We) lost 5-4 and then had to climb out of the loser’s bracket — four games Saturday, four games Sunday — and beat an undefeated Connecticut Bombers team (in the championship that) had scored 60- plus runs to that point all week. We had to beat them twice, and we did just that, 7-0 and 7-1.”

Trent said winning the national title meant a lot to her.

“I love playing, I love my teammates, I love my coach, just all-around,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Asked what helped push her team to the title after the initial loss, she said, “I think it was mostly our defense and our pitching staff, because we only have three pitchers that had to pitch so much.”

Short said Trent “played a lockdown defense all weekend long. She’s our starting left fielder. She kept a lot of would-be doubles to singles … She got a go-ahead RBI in the championship game. I think she was 2-for-3 in that game.”

Williamsburg Starz Gold helps girls play college softball, and Short said, “We actually turn way more away than we accept, obviously. But Taylor’s very much in the top tier of the starting bunch. She starts every game and is a big contributor, defensively and offensively. She is a true all-around utility player. The kid can play everywhere. There aren’t a lot of girls or boys that do that.”