By JOHN THOMPSON
Coweta Editor

While other teams stayed in hotels and basked in air-conditioned comfort, they stayed outdoors and cooked over a camp stove. While other teams had over 30 players to choose their 12 All-Stars from, they only had 16.

But when all was said and done, the Senoia 13-year-old All-Star baseball team did their best impression of the little engine that could and finished fourth in the state baseball junior tournament.

For the 16 players and coaches who participated, the journey to the playoffs was something that will stay with them a lifetime. Coach Gary Gruby said the team quickly started turning heads after they won the fourth district title by beating a team from Peachtree City and heading to the state tournament in Toccoa.

Since the Senoia Area Athletic Association is not the richest association in the region, the coaches and players camped at the Tallulah River Resort to save money. Instead of eating out, the players ate food furnished by the Gruby, Teagle and Bishop families and cooked outside.

By staying outside, Gruby said the team became acclimated to the blazing Georgia heat and had a little extra energy during the crucial parts of the games. When the team arrived at the Toccoa playing field, a sense of awe overcame the players.

"It was a magnificent and inspiring field and meticulously groomed. The loud speaker system and music was daunting like the pros as the players were introduced," he said.

Since the team was not expected to be in the playoffs, many in the crowd were asking where was Senoia, but the team quickly showed them. The team lost its first game in the double elimination tournament to Smyrna and then had to face tourney-favorite Cedartown.

Senoia beat Cedartown and quickly became the darling of the fans and even earned a nickname. The team wears blue jerseys and has players ranging from 4-feet-6-inches to 6-feet-2-inches so the crowd dubbed the team the Smurfs.

The team's next game was against Athens. The game was close, but the Smurfs lost and ended up finishing fourth in the state.

Gruby said the memories will last a lifetime and offered special thanks to David Bishop, who managed the team, and also the team's mascot, 9-year old Jesse Gruby.

Jesse led the team onto the field before each game and was the talk of the tournament.

"There was not another team entered that ran their players lapping around the outfield with an illegal, but in perfect uniform, 9-year-old in the lead," he said.

In the end, Gruby believes the kids learned a valuable life lesson.

"They had an experience to see what it's like to be the underdog and keep hanging in. The 12 young Senoia boys made us proud and got the attention of the state. How sweet it was."