Troy University Athletics
Trojans Take Tournament Title
2/8/2009 6:00:00 AM | Softball
CHATTANOOGA - The Troy Trojans softball team captured the UT Chattanooga Shootout title with a victory over the Maine Black Bears on Sunday morning.
The Trojans held a two run lead on Maine until the bottom of the seventh inning when a two-run, Maine home run evened things on the board. The Trojans took care of business however in the top of the eighth inning, and they grabbed their fourth win in five games by a score of 5-2.
"You can't ask for a much better start to the season than that," Trojans head coach Melanie Davis said. "Of course, me being the demanding coach that I have the reputation for being I would rather be 5-0. I wish we could have grabbed a win off of nationally ranked Virginia Tech, however I do think the Virginia Tech game did a lot of character and strength building for us."
Three Trojans were listed in the all-tournament team, and Troy's Ashlyn Williams took the prize of Most Outstanding Player for the tournament. Williams was also listed as a pitcher for the all-tournament team.
Tasha Elmore and Heidi Johnson also made the team in the outfield positions. Elmore and Johnson both played key roles for the Trojans at the plate, and in the outfield.
Elmore and Johnson led the team in RBIs over the weekend. Elmore posted seven, and Johnson came in a close second with five.
The Trojans had to defeat Maine in the extra eighth inning, and the tie-breaker rule played to their advantage.
In some extra inning cases, a runner will be placed on second base for each batting team at the start of the inning. This increases the likelihood of someone being able to score.
Kala Moore took the role of base runner for the Trojans, and a Kaitlyn Kenney sacrifice bunt moved her to third to score the go ahead run. A Heidi Johnson triple and a Nikki Hollett double added insurance runs for Troy, and the Trojans defense handled Maine in the bottom half of the inning.
"All in all there were tremendous plays on defense throughout the weekend," Davis said. "I'm proud of how we executed through the tournament."
The Trojans are off during the week, but they will hit the road again next weekend to take play in another tournament at Georgia Southern.
Another thing to note is that the Trojans will meet UT Chattanooga again this season when they play in a tournament at the University of South Carolina.
The UT Chattanooga All-Tournament Team:
Most Outstanding Player: Ashlyn Williams, Troy
P-Williams, Troy
P-Kandice Irwin, UTC
IF-Michelle Fuzzard, UTC
IF-Tiffany Baker, UTC
IF-Karlie Love, Campbell
IF-Amanda Miller, Campbell
IF-Whitney Cummings, TTU
OF-Holly Thomas, TTU
DP-Jenna Rhodes, VT
