BY BRIAN HENDRICKSON, Staff Writer
Wilmington Morning Star

Copyright 1999 Wilmington Star-News, Inc.

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- National ultimate tournaments are nothing knew to Wilmington's Tully Beatty.

   He played on the UNCW club team which advanced to the national finals in 1990 and 1991. Some women he plays with played on UNCW's national championship team in 1996.

   But when the Raleigh Llamas - a co-ed team Beatty and five other Wilmingtonians compete with - won the Ultimate Players Association Co-ed Fall National Championship in San Diego on Oct. 30, Beatty knew it was nothing short of amazing.

   The Llamas entered the flying disc tournament seeded ninth out of 12 teams, opened up against the world champion and Beatty's wife, Amy Beatty, suffered a mild concussion late in the championship game and was taken to the hospital.

   Despite adversity, the Llamas came home with the trophy.

   The team first formed from a group of players in Wilmington's summer league. Tully, Amy, Allen and Pam Riggan, Broc Adams and Amy Gerics all wanted to play in the fall, but didn't want to play on the men's or women's teams.

   "We started talking, and most of the men didn't want to play on the men's team, and the women didn't want to play on the women's team, so we all decided, 'Hey, lets all play co-ed.'"

   What formed turned out to be a powerful team. The Llamas blew through the sectional and was one of two teams to advance out of regionals and earned the ninth seed in the co-ed national championship.

   In the first game of the national tournament, the Llamas played against Red Fish Blue Fish, the defending world champion from San Francisco. It should have been a rough start.

   But the Llamas won 15-12.

   The Llamas went undefeated in pool play, beat Crunch in the quarterfinals 15-7 and knocked off Blind Date from Washington, D.C. 15-6 to set up a rematch with Red Fish Blue Fish.

   Tied at 10 in that final game, Red Fish Blue Fish began pulling away, grabbing a 16-12 lead - game point in ultimate. But as the Llamas neared elimination, other teams from around North Carolina, whose games had just finished, came to the field to watch.

   "This huge North Carolina contingent was watching the game, and that leverage allowed us to cut it to 16-15," Tully said.

   But soon after cutting the lead, Amy intercepted a pass from Red Fish Blue Fish but was struck in the head in the process. She fell to the ground unconscious, still clutching the disc with her eyes wide open. Tully thought she was dead.

   "I didn't know what to think," Tully said. "I've never been that scared in my life."

   Paramedics removed Amy from the field, and Tully followed his wife as she was rushed to the hospital. Red Fish Blue Fish gave the Llamas some options: Finish the game the next day, call it a draw or play on. "Knowing Amy Beatty, a draw is out of the question, and after the effort I've put into it a draw is definitely out of the question. We'll finish the game," Adams said.

   Later that day, Tully sat in a hospital room where Amy was diagnosed with a mild concussion. The two had no idea how the game finished when a nurse walked into the room. "You've got a few visitors," she said.

   Tully walked into the hallway and saw his teammates holding the national championship trophy.

   It was a stunning achievement.

   "I had no idea we could come back and win," Tully said.

   But somehow, the Llamas found a way to do it.