Nah-na-na-nah-na...Dirt Dawgs embarrass older competition
A lot of little girls know that exact same feeling after running into the Holmes County Dirt Dawgs 8-and-under elite-level traveling softball team, June 25-26, at the Galion 9-and-under Summer Slam tournament, as the all-star contingent from Holmes and Wayne counties rolled over the competition to pick up its third tournament championship in three tries this summer.
“We’ll be competing against kids one and two years older than us, but I don’t think we’ll miss a beat,” said Dirt Dawgs head coach Ron Allen, after watching his team put together an 8-1 record during its two previous tournament runs while outscoring the opposition by a combined score of 103-30.
Apparently Allen knew exactly what he was talking about as the Dirt Dawgs proved to be undaunted by the experience and skills of their older competition, continuing to march to the sound of friendly beat downs during Saturday pool play, by knocking off the hometown Galion Elite team 11-1, crushing the Sabers 20-3, making little princesses out of the Queen of the Diamonds, 7-3, and securing the top seed for Sunday’s elimination round.
The Dirt Dawgs sent the Sabers home with its second loss of the tournament early Sunday, as Madison Woods, Macyn Siegenthaler and Callie Cline loaded the bases in the second inning before Jasmine Knapp unloaded them with her third grand slam, and sixth home run of the season, propelling the Dirt Dawgs to an 11-6 victory and a spot in the tournament championship.
Continued hot hitting by the Dirt Dawgs kept the Queen of the Diamonds feeling less than royal as they were trumped again, 13-8 in the championship game, after Woods homered, Morgan Allen and Zoe Miller each drove in three runs, and Knapp and Cline each doubled and drove in a pair, while the defense kept the Queen from rallying late.
Brynley McVicker cut down two runners at third base from her position in left, center fielder Hannah Baker fired to second to retire two Queens on the base paths, and Michaela Folks anchored the infield by catching two pop-ups and assisting on three put outs at first.
After improving to 13-1, the Dirt Dawgs are looking for the highest level of competition they can find for the weekend of July 16-17, before wrapping up their 2011 tournament schedule at the Dixie Days Tournament in Mt. Vernon on July 23 and 24, and the Youth League World Series in Zanesville, August 6-7.
For more information about the Holmes County Dirt Dawgs, make sure to pick up a free copy of the July issue of GAME Magazine.