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PrintThe Rockers-Cowan 16-and-under fast pitch girls’ softball team quickly put last week’s USSSA tournament win at Central Missouri State University behind them as they gear up for the USSSA Mid-State Championship this weekend at the Rainbow and Antimi Complexes in Cosmopolitan Park. The Rockers swept last week’s tournament winning seven straight games.
“We played awesome,” co-coach Kathy Cowan said. “Three shutouts, and we had the perfect combination of offense and defense.”
“It was by far our best tournament,” Rockers’ pitcher Jordyn Tolliver said. “The bat was there and we focused on defense.”
The bat was certainly there for Tolliver, who had three home runs and helped the Rockers outscore their opponents 53-8.
The team will try to carry over the intensity into this weekend’s play. The Rockers will join 54 other teams in five different age divisions.
“It would be exciting to win a state title,” pitcher Taylor Cowan said. “You always hope to do well, and a state title is something we can take with us to nationals.”
The Rockers won a qualifying tournament for the USSSA nationals in early May and since then they have been sharpening their skills against teams in the 18-and-under divisions.
“It brings tougher competition,” Taylor Cowan said. “It gives us the chance to better ourselves.”
“When we put the team together,” Kathy Cowan said. “We set the goal to win a national title.”
The team has been together since last August, but many of the players have been together for years. The players are close even though their homes are scattered across mid-Missouri. They feel it’s important to have a strong relationship off the field.
“There is a good bond that carries over onto the field,” Tolliver said.
Taylor Cowan said, “You want to do your best for each other, we remind ourselves of what we want to do (as a team).”
Next month, the Rockers will play in the AFA State Championship Tournament and the Show-Me State Games in a series of weekend tournaments leading to nationals on July 24-30 in Overland Park, Kan.
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