Dixie All-Star teams dominate local tourneys
By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Three Hartselle all-star softball teams dominated their opponents Monday night in sub-district tournament competition at the Grady and Margie Long Softball Complex.
The American All-Stars put together back-to-back wins to claim championship honors in the 7/8-year old Darlings division; the Angels All-Stars completed a sweep of their opponents in the 9/10-year-old division; and the Ponytails All-Stars advanced to the third round in their sub-district with a convincing win.
The Darlings fought back from an earlier loss to the Decatur Americans by tagging them with a 13-2 loss in a first game and knocking them out of the tournament with a 12-3 second game win. They got to the finals by defeating Colbert County 21-0 and Decatur National by scores of 6-3 and 15-2. They lost to Decatur American in the third round, 13-2.
"They played with a lot of heart under a lot of pressure," said manager Danny Iker. "I told them before the first game if they would play with all of their heart they would win the tournament."
The Darlings will move on to district tournament competition in Underwood starting today.
The Hartselle Angels remained unbeaten in their division by blasting Colbert County 11-0 and winning the sub-district title in their age division. Earlier, they shut out Tuscumbia 24-0 and cruised by Cherokee 19-3.
"We had good pitching and defense and that carried us," said manager Kevin Corum. "This is a good group of girls and they're playing well in all phases of the game."
The Angels were scheduled to play in a district tournament in Greenhill on Tuesday night.
The Ponytails All-Stars bounced back from an 8-4 first round loss to Underwood on Saturday to defeat Colbert County 12-2 in a second round game. They trailed 2-1 in the second inning but tied the game in the third inning and exploded for seven runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
"They kept their heads in the game and didn't get down after falling behind," said manager Jeff Roberts. "They started hitting the ball and came up big at the end. "This was a must win for us."
