Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best

  • By Bill Houston
  • May 22, 2011
  • 690
Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best
Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best
Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best
Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best
Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best
Holmes County Dirt Dawgs prove, “In order to be the best, you have to play the best,” besting some of Ohio’s best
                        
The Holmes County Dirt Dawgs lived up to their team motto – “In order to be the best, you have to play the best” – as the eight-and-under girls softball team kicked off its six-tournament summer season by capturing first place at the second annual Ohio Fastpitch Club (OFC) Spring Blast tournament, held Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22 in Wilmington, Ohio. Competing against select teams mainly from the southern part of the state – which draw their talent from larger metropolitan areas such as Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton – the group of All-Stars from Holmes and Wayne counties opened pool play on Saturday with a 13-2 thrashing of the Cross County Cannons from Covington, before dropping a hard-fought game 8-6 to the Vikings Elite team, playing out of Ashville. Competing as a number three seed, the Dirt Dawgs opened single-elimination championship play on Sunday by dishing out a little payback against the second-seeded Vikings Elite team, coming away with an 11-10 win highlighted by run-scoring doubles from Zoe Miller and Hannah Baker in the second inning, a fourth inning grand slam off the bat of Jasmine Knapp and some clutch pitching and defense in the bottom of the sixth, which held Vikings Elite scoreless and secured the one run win. Riding their momentum into the championship game, the Dirt Dawgs jumped all over the top-seeded Mt. Orab Storm, plating the maximum number of runs allowed in the top of the first to take a 6-0 lead and propel themselves to a 14-3 mercy rule victory after only four innings. Knapp homered again in the title game and Erin Mickley drove in two with a solid shot to left to lead the Dirt Dawgs who have been preparing for the summer season since beginning indoor practices inside the Glenmont gymnasium back in January under head coach Ron Allen. The Dirt Dawgs were developed as an alternative to recreation league softball and are structured in a manner in which parents do not have to pay for their children to play. The Dirt Dawgs will have a chance to live up to their team motto five more times throughout the course of the summer by competing against some of the other great eight-and-under teams around the state, allowing them to prove again that “In order to be the best, you have to play the best.” To learn more about the Holmes County Dirt Dawgs, be sure to pick up a copy of the July issue of GAME magazine.


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