The Charlotte County (CC) Angels All-Star team experienced a rough start to its run in the double-elimination state tournament, but it began to show strong defense despite the loss.

Charlotte County fell 6-1 to the Powhatan All-Star team Friday afternoon in the State Dixie Softball Angels X-Play All-Star Tournament in Kenbridge.

The CC Angels All-Stars face the Dinwiddie All-Stars on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Billy Dixon, manager for the District 7 champion Charlotte County squad, acknowledged that his team was a little jittery at the beginning of Friday’s game, but he ended up feeling positive about the girls’ performance.

“We gave up six runs there, and then the rest of the way, we didn’t give up any runs and couldn’t get the bats going, so managed to only get one ourselves,” he said. “But overall, I think we settled in good.”

Vivian Eason scored for Charlotte County and was driven in by Angel Ragland.

The contest was the first for the CC Angels since they went 3-1 in the District 7 tournament held in Charlotte Court House earlier this summer.

“We’ve got a good group of girls,” Dixon said, speaking to the character of his team. “They’re enthusiastic. They work hard. They’re excellent teammates. They support one another, so we have really good chemistry on the team. We took three teams within the county and put them together for the all-star team, and they act like they’ve been playing together all year long, so it’s a great group.”

He credited his assistant coaches for helping fuel the team’s success, including Frank Clowdis,

Kim Eason, Tracey Clark and Brian Ragland.