KAYSVILLE -- The Blue Crush nearly lost a few weeks ago and it might have been all Kenny Chesney's fault. Somehow the Crush overcame the country-singing superstar's allure and won big instead. The Blue Crush won the ASA Kaysville Heat-Stoker Tournament during the final weekend in June. The Crush defeated the Utah Heat 4-3 in dramatic fashion in the championship game.

However, before the Crush could win the tournament title they first had to get there.

Head coach Greg Wayman said his team's greatest strength is their friendship and teamwork. But that friendship, usually their strength, may have been one of their greatest weaknesses the night before the tournament began.

During pool play the Crush dropped two straight games and reaching the title game seemed an unlikely possibility.

The losses may have had something to do with the team staying up past 2 a.m to attend the Kenny Chesney concert the night before. The next morning at 7 a.m the girls played their first game and were obviously tired.

"We lost both our pool games miserably," Wayman said. "We told them all to go home and go to bed (and that) there's no hanging out and no playing."

The players responded, went home, and got some much-needed sleep.

Despite drawing the last seed in the tournament because of their poor pool play, they fought back and went undefeated for the rest of the tournament.

"We beat four really good teams to win it," Wayman said. "It was unreal. We went from worst to first."

In the championship game, the Crush had a hill to climb being down 3-0 to the Heat in the fifth inning.

The Crush battled back and the game was tied going into the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Dani MacKay hit a walk-off double which batted in Ali Payne and put the Crush over the top 4-3 to take home the Heat-Stroker title.

Playing from behind and coming back to win is nothing new to the Crush. They have done it all season.

"We've pulled out probably five or six games (in the) last inning already this year," Wayman said about his team's resilient attitude. "They don't ever get down and give the game up. They just know they can (come back). They get up there and put it together. Everybody has the attitude that it's never over."

The Crush got several timely hits throughout the tournament from Kalli Randall, Lexie Wayman, and Kaylin Street. In addition to offense, they also received great field play from Jaden Anderson, Ashtin Hall, and Holly Ritz.

McKenzy MacKay pitched five of the six games played in the tournament including the championship, where she struck-out ten Heat batters.

The Crush is playing in its first year as a U16 team and is made up of girls attending Davis, Viewmont, and Woods Cross High Schools.

The Crush won this tournament last year when they were in the U14 division.

The Crush will now look forward to the Snake River Smash softball tournament. The Crush won the Smash tourney last year and will look to defend their title July 13-14 in Idaho Falls.

Hopefully, there won't be a Kenny Chesney concert in Idaho that weekend.



thatch@davisclipper.com