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June 10, 2000
Golden Corral Softball went to the
third, and final, leg of the Dixie-Dudley NSA Tournament Series last weekend to defend the
title they had won just a few weeks earlier. Also at stake was the overall points
championship and travel money purse given to the winner.
In the opener, Golden Corral faced Maintenance
Plus. This was a low-scoring game as GC scored 4 in the first on a Tuffy Eggleston
2-run homer and singles from John Hudson, JoJo Owens, Tony Conner, Kevin Henderson, and
Kirk Barnes. A few more hits in the third produced 4 more runs and GC held an 8-2
advantage and appeared to be well on their way to any easy victory. But there wasn't
much offense after that and Maintenance climbed back into the game. With The Corral
holding an 11-6 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Maintenance Men made a
charge with four straight singles and a base-clearing double that made it 11-10.
That was as close as they would get, however, as GC escaped with the win.
Next up for Golden Corral was a very well-known
SportShack club that was packed with veterans. GC set the tone in this one early
when the first eleven batters scored. The big blow was a 2-out shot from Eggleston
that capped off the 12-run first. Golden Corral managed to score consistently
through the rest of the game and cruised to a 21-13 victory. Rodney Mosley and Wayne
Mosley had 4 hits each to lead the way, and Owens, Henderson, and Barnes chipped in 3
apiece.
This sent Golden Corral into the undefeated
game against the team that is quickly becoming an NSA rival, Murphy's Law. After two
straight scoreless innings, GC finally got some offense generated as Chris Mosley, W.
Mosley, R. Mosley, Hudson, Matt Hunt, Eggleston, and Conner all reached base safely to
push across 6 runs for a slim 6-2 lead. In the next inning, The Corral got it
rolling. The 10-run outburst was enough to bury Murphy's, and they went quietly by
the final score of 18-2.
This weekend's shorthanded Golden Corral team
was now sitting back awaiting the winner of the loser's bracket. Not exactly the
place they thought they'd be when only 8 players were able to show up to head for
Richmond. But the team played well.
The weekend's unexpected good fortune soon
soured, though, as WineTrucking/Fuddrucker's (beaten earlier by Murphy's Law) rolled
through the loser's bracket and thumped GC twice to grab first place.
Team Leaders: Wayne Mosley (.769),
Kevin Henderson (.667), Tuffy Eggleston (.647, 3 HRs).
Golden Corral won the overall championship of
the 2000 Dixie-Dudley NSA Tournament Series. The team earned a paid World Series
Regional berth, as well as the cash purse that accumulated over the three separate
tournaments.