The Chase County Explosion U-12 softball team won its fourth tournament of the year this past weekend, winning the 11-team Summer Slam in Emporia that featured teams from all across the state of Kansas.
The tournament began with pool play on Saturday for seeding in Sunday’s single-elimination bracket.
The Explosion’s bats got off to a good start Sunday morning, as the team enjoyed an 8-1 victory over the Thunderbolts.
Game Two was a defensive battle, as Chase County faced off against the Manhattan Dominators, who had gone undefeated through pool play and had defeated the Explosion on Saturday, 4-1. The game was scoreless through five innings before the Explosion put on some pressure in the bottom of the sixth with some timely bunting and aggressive baserunning.
Chase County eventually came away with a 3-0 victory.
The Explosion started the semifinal game with two runs in the first inning against the Wichita Impact. After holding the Impact scoreless and adding two more runs in the fifth, Chase County advanced to the Championship game with a 4-0 victory.
The championship game against Topeka Attitude displayed strong offense by both teams.
In the top of the first, Chase County scored three runs, while Topeka added a run of its own in bottom of the inning.
Neither team scored in the second inning, but the Explosion added three more runs in the third, while Topeka added another run.
In the final inning, Chase County scored two runs to give itself a six-run lead, but Topeka made it close by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning before the Explosion was able to make the final out and win the championship game, 8-6.
“This was a great tournament to play in right before we head to ASA state this weekend,” Chase County coach Brian Potter said. “The level of competition was the best we have seen this year in one tournament. The girls are starting to peak at just the right time.”