Greenville’s Dixie Angels (9-10 year-olds) team is state championship-bound after a perfect 4-0 All-Star series run thus far.

Their play puts the team in position to be the first Greenville team in its age division to compete for a state championship, according to head coach Brandon Smith.

“The girls are very active, and we’ve worked hard to achieve this goal,” Smith said.

“This has been the culmination of a lot of practices and a lot of late nights.”

The work has borne fruit throughout the summer for the Angels, but it perhaps showed best Monday night on the road against Enterprise in the semifinal round.

Greenville ran away with a convincing 11-6 victory, despite a few minor hiccups in the home stretch.

“The girls came together and played as one,” Smith continued.

“We made a few errors in the bottom of the final inning, and I called a timeout. I talked to the girls and told them that we’ve got to calm down and let’s play some softball.  My two shortstop made two errors, but she made up for it at the end and tagged a runner at second and made a double play. And then we got out of there.”

Smith added that the Monday-night performance was indicative of the mental fortitude and focus that his girls have shown all season, but he added that they would need it once again Tuesday night for the championship round against Geneva.

Greenville had already defeated Geneva in the quarterfinals, though Smith added—with no hesitation— that it was their most challenging game to date.

“We have faced some tough opponents, but Geneva has really been one of our toughest opponents thus far,” Smith said.

“We beat them 7-5.  They can hit the ball well, but our girls came to play with a little better defense than they had.”

Things would be different in the championship round, though.  Smith and the Greenville Angels fully expect Geneva to hit the diamond with a sizable chip on their shoulders, and ready for revenge. 

“We’ve got a chip on our shoulders, too,” he said.

“The motto that I always tell my girls before every game is that we’re like the Undertaker in wrestling.  We only come around on special occasions.

“We come out like the Undertaker during WrestleMania, and we’re going to put people to sleep tonight.”

The Greenville Angels battled Geneva once again in the championship round Tuesday night, though results weren’t available at press time.