The DeKalb County 7-9-year-old girls coach pitch softball team rolled over every team that got in their way to repeat as Tennessee Youth Baseball Association (TYBA) state champions Sunday at Barfield Crescent Park in Murfreesboro.
The team went undefeated in the state championship, beginning pool play Friday night at 8 p.m., facing the all-stars from Unionville. The young ladies from DeKalb outpaced Unionville 11-5.
DeKalb returned on Saturday at noon to give the Christiania Diamond Queens an 8-5 beating, then faced Adrenaline at 5 p.m. The local girls came out on top in a 13-1 game against Adrenaline, and went into the tournament on Sunday as the top seeded team.
The DeKalb team was only two games away from a state championship win when the tourney began on Sunday.
DeKalb faced Unionville again at 1 p.m., and came out on top 11-4 in the first game of tournament play, outscoring Unionville 4-1 in the first inning.
Unionville scored again in top of the second, bringing the score to 4-2. DeKalb broke loose with two more runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third to increase their lead to 8-2.
DeKalb picked up two more runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to increase their lead to 11-2, and Unionville managed two runs in the fifth to bring the final score to 11-4 in the semi-final round of the event.
DeKalb squared off with the Diamond Queens again at 3 p.m. on Sunday for the whole ball of wax, this time thrashing the team from Christiania 11-1 and winning the state championship.
DeKalb jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and never looked back, increasing the margin to 8-0 after scoring five more runs in the second.
Christiania finally put a run on the board in the third, but DeKalb matched it, bringing the score to 9-1. DeKalb added two more in the fourth to clinch the championship by a score of 11-1.
Meanwhile, In the 7-8 year old “rec” division, the DeKalb All-Stars entered pool play Friday evening with an 13-8 loss to Shelbyville Chassix, then fell to The Shelbyville Hornets at 1 p.m. on Saturday in an 11-8 contest.
A 13-5 loss to the Manchester Blue raiders Saturday night seeded the 7-8 year olds from DeKalb third in their category, sending them to face the Shelbyville Crushers when the tourney began on Sunday, who eliminated the team from the single elimination tournament.
The 11-12 year-old all-stars from DeKalb didn’t fare much better in the tourney, entering pool play on Friday with a 12-1 loss against the Coffee County Outcasts.
The team had better luck on Saturday, taking down the Murfreesboro Dirt Dawgs in a 9-4 game. DeKalb came back to face Fayetteville Saturday afternoon, losing a 5-4 heartbreaker. The 11-12 year-olds entered the tourney on Sunday ranked third in their division, but were quickly dispatched by the Buchanan Warriors in a 13-0 shutout.
The 9-10 year-old all-stars from DeKalb will begin state tournament play on Nov. 22 at Barfield Crescent Park in Murfreesboro.