Five times this summer the 14-and-under Lawrence Phenix softball team has had an opportunity to win a tournament title.

But the Phenix haven’t won a championship — yet.

“We hope that all changes this weekend,” said Phenix coach John Hamilton, whose team begins play today in the American Fastpitch Assn. “B” Nationals, taking place this week at Clinton Lake Softball Complex and the Youth Sports, Inc. fields.

“We’ve been really close a bunch of times, but we haven’t got it done. We really think this could be an opportunity for our girls, especially because they are playing in front of their friends and family.”

Not that the road has been too unkind.

The team is 40-23 this summer, has qualified for three national tournaments and finished runner-up in five tournaments.

“They’ve really been playing well,” Hamilton said of his team, which qualified for nationals by taking second at a regional earlier this month in Marysville. “But, man, we sure want to go out and try to win one this weekend.”

The Phenix will open two-day pool play at 10:30 a.m. today at CLSC when they play the OK Hurricanes, followed by the Sidewinders at 3:30 p.m. at YSI. After three games of pool play, the tournament will be reseeded into a double-elimination tournament.

The championship game will be Sunday.

There also is a 16-and-under Lawrence Phenix team playing in this week’s tournament.

“We’ve placed second, third and fourth in three of five tournaments this year,” 16-under Phenix coach Gary Tanner said. “We’re still looking for that first-place one.”

Tanner said his team could find motivation in its hometown.

“It’s good for kids. They get to play in front of relations and maybe even their high school coaches,” he said. “With those kind of people watching, that can be quite motivating.”

Not that his team has needed the nudge.

The team made up of mostly 14-year-olds from Lawrence and the surrounding area has played against older competition most of the season, including an 18-under tournament last weekend in Warrensburg, Mo., where the Phenix finished fourth.

“We didn’t know how it was going to be moving up,” Tanner said of his team, which was formed when the girls were 12. “But we’ve played pretty well with everyone. This is just a team that doesn’t give up. They’ve stood up to the challenge.”

The 16-under Phenix — who begin pool play at 3:30 today against Big Lake at CLSC, then play the Trojanettes Red at 8 p.m. at CLSC — qualified for nationals when the team took second at a June 14 tourney in Blue Springs, Mo.

“We just did everything that weekend,” Tanner said of his team’s 5-1 tourney run that ended with a one-run loss in the championship game. “We didn’t make any errors, our bats were going and we were just flat-out clicking.

“We’re hoping that since then, everything’s kind of been a tune-up for this week.”

For Pat Albert’s 14-under team from Tonganoxie, this tournament also will be a test his team has prepared for all season by playing older opponents and 14-under A-class teams.

“We haven’t been to any B-tournaments yet, because we needed to get better,” Albert said of his 28-21 team that will play the Lenexa Monarchs at 10:30 a.m. at YSI and Edna Woodshed at 6:30 at CLSC.

“I think we’re probably playing better than anytime we have this year,” Albert said. “Hopefully that will mean something good for this week.”