The McIntosh Lady Chiefs softball team appears to be a force to be reckoned with. They are 11 and 1 and winners of the Sandy Creek Shoot-out, a softball tournament featuring 11 other high school teams from Georgia. If you go searching for the reason behind McIntosh's recent success, one name will keep popping up, Brooke King.

King is a junior, who was born in Georgia and has lived in many cities around the world since. Her father was in the army, so the King's have lived on bases from Virginia to Germany. The family moved back to Georgia after he retired and Brooke moved in to McIntosh, to set up camp on the diamond. Brooke has been an avid baseball and softball fan her whole life. When asked about good collegiate programs, she can rattle off a list of the top programs on both coasts. She would like to play in college but she feels it's a ways away, right now.

She said that her favorite professional baseball player is Greg Maddux. That is apparent both on and off the field. While Brooke can zing the ball in there at about 59 mph, her focus and strength, like Maddux's, is location, location, location. This is Brooke's third year pitching for the varsity squad. She is 7-1 with a 1.08 ERA and 60 strikeouts. She has given up 25 hits and walked only 7 in 52 innings pitched. Those are great numbers, but Brooke is the first to give credit to the rest of her team.

"The defense has been excellent and we've been hitting the ball really well, with lots of power. Sabrina (McCord) has been catching me this season and calling great pitch sequences," Brooke reports, never stepping forward to take the acclaim, much like her hero in Atlanta." I try to not give in to hitters. If they do hit it, I want it to be the worst hit possible, so I'll pitch it low and outside," Brooke says. "I love the outside corner."

Brooke also gives credit to her coach, Coach Kidd. He was coaching the team when they still played slow pitch softball and has since formed a squad that is competitive in fast pitch. A key to his success may be the excellent physical condition of the team. The baserunners are quick to capitalize on their opponents fielding mistakes, inevitably putting runs on the scoreboard. The more run support that King has, the less likely a team will get back in the game

It is obviously working. In the Sandy Creek Shoot-out, King pitched 33 innings over 7 games and struck out 37, earning 6 wins and a save. These accomplishments tend to get glazed over because it isn't baseball and because the competition may not be of the highest caliber. Brooke deserves it though and she will earn it. A good student and class president, Brooke seems to realize the value of her achievements. She is energetic and excited about her team's chances this year and is proud of what she has accomplished so far. You get the feeling though, that while she knows she's doing great now, she also knows an even greater moment lies ahead.

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