Wynta Hurford and Lacie Jones have both been named in the NSW Primary School Sports Association (NSW PSSA) under-12s girls representative softball side to play at the national championships in November.

Both year six students at Orange Public School, Wynta is a catcher and Lacie is a pitcher, the duo forming a strong combination.

The pair play for Orange PS at school level, which won the Western Region titles.

They also play together for the Bletchington club in Orange and at representative level for Orange District Softball.

Orange PS had seven representative in the Western PSSA side which finished equal fourth at the state championships at Blacktown International Sports Park Softball Centre in western Sydney from June 2 to June 5.

That was an impressive effort with Combined Independent Schools (CIS), MacKillop and Polding, all competing along with the North West, Riverina, Western, Hunter, North Coast, South Coast and four Sydney sides (East, South West, North and West) for a 13-team competition.

The Western PSSA side included players from five different Orange district public schools – Orange, Bletchington, Calare, Orange East and Spring Terrace).

Matthew Scott from Molong Central School was the Western coach.

But for Lacie and Wynta, that event has become even more momentous after being watched closely and then selected amongst the best players in the tournament to be named in the state side.

The Orange PS pair will return to Blacktown to represent NSW PSSA against the best female under-12 softballers from around Australia.

It is the first time that Lacie has made a state side.

“She was absolutely thrilled,” Lacie’s mother Rachel said. “She had a smile from ear to ear and was just very, very happy.”

Lacie has been playing softball since 2019 when she was in Kindergarten.

Lacie also plays netball and cricket, but softball is her preferred sport.

“I think she’s just fallen in love with it overall,” Rachel added.

“She enjoys the challenge of it. It’s a sport that is very big on team spirit and team morale.”

Lacie turns 12 in September.

For Wynta, who turned 12 in May, she has been playing softball for three years and joined after brother Cruz and mother Rebecca took up the sport.

Not just a great catcher, Wynta also hit her second-ever home run at the state carnival which helped Western to an important win against eventual joint winners CIS.

It is also the first time Wynta has made a state side, although she has also represented Western Region in school hockey.

“Total shock... she wasn’t expecting it at all which was probably the most beautiful thing,” Rebecca said of Wynta’s emotions when she found out she’d earned state selection.

“She was just there enjoying the sport she loves. To get that sort of recognition was pretty amazing.”

Wynta is also a talented dancer and hockey player and also spends a lot of time on weekend umpiring softball.

“She’ll umpire games either side of her game,” Rebecca said. “Which is great, she enjoys it, and it teaches you more about the game and the rules.”

The Blacktown facility is where softball was played at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.