Boom! Congratulations to the 16u Explosion Select who won the USSSA Playing for Pride 16u Division held at Happy Valley and Elizabethton High Schools on 7-12-14. The tournament field included 10 teams from the Tennessee and Virginia areas. Teams participating included the Virginia Venom, TN Intensity, TN Sting, East Tennessee Knockouts, Unicoi Blue Devils and others. After a lengthy rain, the tournament format was altered to a single elimination tournament leaving no margin for error. The 16u Select played lights out, going 3-0 and allowing a total of 1 run in 3 games, beating the Virginia Venom 5-0, TN Sting Matthews 8-1 and TN Sting Backhurst 3-0 enroute to the tournament championship. Great job TN Sting Backhurst and Explosion!! A special shout out to the Explosion pitchers (Tara Williams and Madison Owens) who allowed a total of 8 hits in 3 games and 1 earned run! Also a big shout-out to Sydney Birchfield who helped out her older sister's team by making the defensive play of the tournament, a running backhand catch against the fence to deep left centerfield!