The Lady Diamondbacks are your typical 10 and under little league softball team, except for one thing.
"We don't cheer," said 9 year-old Gwynne Frazer. "It's distracting to the other team, and it's annoying."
Frazer's teammates agree. "It's annoying, and obnoxious, and it distracts the pitcher and nobody likes that, because they'll just do it to you," added Tess Cadman.
Head coach Chad Dancak supports his girls' decision to not cheer, saying, "They're more concerned about playing ball, and not worried about giving a hoo-rah here and there." Dancak continued, "We took our fair share of beating last year, but they've really, really worked hard."
And the hard work has paid off. In only their 2nd year as a team, the Lady Diamondbacks earned a berth to the NSA World Series after winning a tournament earlier this season.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and most people don't get to do it," said 9-year-old Amber Dawson.
Courtney Frye couldn't contain her excitement when the team found out they were headed for Indianapolis, saying, "I'm really excited. I don't know about other people, but I can just jump up and down and bounce off the walls."
"Just being a little team in Mercer County, after losing a lot of games last year, we went from that, to winning a lot of games and doing so good in year," said 11-year-old Mackenzie Patterson.
The Lady Diamondbacks are trying to raise $5,000 to help defer cost of travel and expenses for their trip to Indianapolis. If you are interested in helping the team out, please contact Wendy Dancak at wendydancak@yahoo.com.
The World Series begins July 25.
