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  • TROPHY HUNTERS: The championship Intruders are back row, from left: Tim Turner, Caroline Snider, Ashley Roland, Mattie Usry, Emily Snider, Anna Jackson, Candace Story, Jessica Hayles and Dennis Moore. Front row, from left: Allie Jackson, Danielle Easterly and Taylor Roberts. Jonathan Jackson

    Intruders cruise to tourney championship

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November 11, 2009

Intruders cruise to tourney championship

Travel team grabs second major trophy of 2009

Keith Jump

On a cold Fall Saturday the Intruders 14 and under softball team was hot as they sliced through the competition like a hot knife cutting into butter.

Led by some outstanding pitching and picture perfect hitting, the Intruders went undefeated as they throttled the competition throughout the day.

Beginning with the first game, which was a 16-0 victory, most could tell this was going to be a championship run for the Intruders.

Ashley Roland, also a first baseman, pitched game one and was great from the mound while she and her teammates would bury their opponents with a barrage of hits, great base running and touching the plate at will to outmatch the opponent.

The only drawback in game one was a seemingly monster home run by Candace Story, that the umpire would rule just foul. But she would still drill the ball and continue to hit the rest of the day.

Game two saw Danielle Easterly, who is an infielder when not on the mound, pitch a masterful game as she would paint the corners like an artist on a canvas.

Once again she would have teammates who continued to outhit the opposing team.

When game three rolled around the Intruders coaches, Tim Turner and Dennis Moore, would call on Mattie Usry to toe the rubber. And toe it she did as she would fire the ball past batter after batter to send her team into the championship game with another overpowering victory.

The only obstacle this bunch would face was the cold weather that had reappeared after a long day.

So two other teams faced off to see who would face the Intruders. The girls then continued throwing, hitting and even scouting their possible opponents.

While sitting behind the plate, Usry, Easterly, Story, Jessica Hayles and sisters Anna and Allie Jackson could be heard talking to each other about defensive alignment, hitting possibilities and pitching setup.

And then around 9 p.m. the time had come for the Stingers to face the unbeaten Intruders again. This would be the fifth time over the last two weeks that the two teams would face each other. With both teams holding two wins each, this would be the tie breaker — but the Stingers had already beaten the Intruders in the last championship game.

This weekend belonged to the Intruders and Easterly would be entrusted with the ball to pitch her team to a victory.

In the game itself you could see the defense of Emily Snider from the left side of the infield or the catching prowess of Hayles, who showed the glove that any coach would salivate over. Also with an outfield of the Jackson sisters, as well as utility specialist Taylor Roberts or Caroline Snider, nothing was going to drop with these young ladies patrolling the grass.

Roberts, who is facing knee surgery, and Allie Jackson were playing in their last tournament for the Intruders as they will be moving up in age.

So with the game tied at 2-2, coach Turner made a bold move as he had Caroline Snider bunt, even with two strikes, and she caught the Stingers off balance with the beautifully executed lay down as it would hug the line and the go ahead run would score.

And after one more run and a 4-2 victory, the Intruders would take a 3-2 series lead and avenge the earlier loss in a previous championship to win the Camsports Chattahoochee Perry Shootout.

“These girls were really pumped and couldn’t wait to get back on the field after last week,” said Turner.

With Christmas season approaching, to those in future tournaments, be careful what you wish for because you just may get coal in your stocking if you face the Intruders.

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