The Fury's 16-under team is in Sioux Falls, S.D., their two 14-under teams are in Marietta, Ga., and the 18-under Gold team will be in Oklahoma City next week. Each has qualified to compete in Amateur Softball Association national tournaments. Play starts today, except in 18-under Gold, which is next week.
As much as qualifying for an ASA national is a team goal for all each year, that's almost an offshoot of the program's overall objective. Fury founders Pat Moyer and Jeremy Higdon are aiming to gain college scholarship money for all their players, uplift play locally, and in the process field teams that can compete nationally.
"Our ultimate goal is to help raise the level of softball in Chattanooga and the surrounding area," Moyer said. "By no means are we the standard. We've copied every successful program out there. We're trying to improve every day we can."
Higdon and wife, Jill, oversee the 18-under Gold team, which features athletes from a broader area than the younger Fury teams. Locals Amy Campbell, Kamri Chester, Megan Givens and Whitney Hammond played at GPS, and Karavin Dew is from Calhoun, Ga.
Moyer calls leadoff batter and center fielder Tory Lewis from GPS the "heartbeat" of the 16-under team with her .465 average. At 18-1, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe's Monica Vickery leads the pitching staff and Grace Academy's Lacye Walker has been a key run-producer in the No. 3 spot in the order.
The husband and wife team of Tony and Kim Swafford are coaches for the Fury '94 team, named for the year in which the players were born. Kim Swafford said they've had three players share the pitching load with equal success. Katy Richardson, Cricket Blanco and Morgan Lane have been among the offensive leaders.
Tad Andrus coaches daughter Hailey on the other 14-under team -- the Fury '95. They were the last to qualify, and did so with their last chance, by winning the South Atlantic Regional tournament in the first tournament after the July 17 grand opening at the Summit of Softball Complex in Collegedale.
Slap-hitters Cassidy Hackney and Noelle Winkles provide a spark offensively and Bayli Cruse has contributed power. Unfortunately they lost leadoff batter Shaliyah Geathers to a broken ankle on a slide into home Wednesday during the national tournament in Chattanooga last week.
"I'll be ready next year," said Geathers, who made the trip to Marietta to offer support. "I think I should be stronger. This will make me have to work harder for that."
She won't have to look far to find a place to train. The Fury Faspitch Academy building, located off Mack Smith Road in Rossville, was recently expanded to almost 12,000 square feet, primarily to accomodate the portion of the business geared toward physical fitness. Jeremy Higdon said former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga assistant strength and conditioning coach Matt Green has had his one-time side business take off and he's come aboard with the Fury.
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