Published: May 07, 2008 12:51 am            

Patience pays off for young Lady Bulldogs

Rick Roberson was patient.

For two years, Roberson watched his Clarkdale Lady Bulldogs fight valiantly against the older, more-experienced Eupora Eagles in the Class 2A State Championship Series.

With a roster chock full of seventh, eighth, and ninth graders, Roberson knew his team's time would come, even when Eupora celebrated two straight state championships after beating Clarkdale.

Well, the time has come.

Those players who were eighth and ninth graders for the past two years have grown and matured a great deal over the past few seasons.

And now, they have a state championship to prove it.

With a nearly-flawless performance against the three-time defending state champs, the Clarkdale Lady Bulldogs declared that their time has arrived.

"We basically took a junior high team up against them the past few seasons," Roberson remarked afterward. "We fought as hard as we could, but we were mostly kids. Coming into this year, I knew we had come a long way."

That they have.

With a two-game sweep of Eupora, Clarkdale quickly vanquished any memories of the past few years and turned them into a celebration of the present.

Refusing to be intimidated by the defending champs, Clarkdale was the aggressor all series long, jumping on Eupora from the get-go in both games.

Heroes were aplenty for Clarkdale as the entire lineup contributed in both games. Nine Lady Bulldogs collected hits in Game 1 while seven did so in Game 2.

"It's never the same person," Roberson said. "This group knows what they have to do and they play extremely hard. When that happens, anybody can be the hero."

Clarkdale finished off Eupora much the same way that they marched through the postseason. In nine playoff games, Clarkdale went 8-1 and never trailed in the state championship series.

Not bad for a group that was in junior high last year.

What's even scarier for all of Class 2A is that this Clarkdale bunch is still a team built for the future. There's not one senior on the Lady Bulldogs' roster and just a handful of juniors.

With loads of youthful talent on deck, Tuesday's championship win could be just the beginning for Roberson's bunch.

"We have a young team . We're just going to keep playing hard and doing things the right way," Roberson added. We've been blessed tremendously so far and hopefully that will continue."

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.