Having been involved in sports since the age of 4, I have accomplished a lot as an athlete and coach, and have also witnessed even more as a spectator and now as a reporter. So I would like to believe that I know a good team or athlete when I happen to come across them.

I happened to remember making a promise to a group of young ladies and a coach a month or so ago that I would come to at least one of their softball tournaments before the year was over. The Greene County Clovers just so happened to be playing in a tournament at the Miss Softball America complex in Terre Haute on the same day that I had a men's slow pitch softball game in Terre Haute. Since my game was not until later in the day, it gave me the opportunity to fulfill my promise.

All three Clovers teams were playing on this day. The 10U team, was winning their game 6-0 in the second inning when I arrived, the 14U team had just dropped a heart breaking game with the international tie-breaker in affect, and the 12U team was just getting ready to take the field. So I opted to watch their game start to finish and snap a few photos while I was there.

Now to be perfectly honest, I was not expecting to witness anything eye-catching from this game, let alone something brilliant enough to want to write a column about! But a couple hours later while at my game, I found myself talking to friends about the team I had just watched at MSA. A few more hours later, once I was at home I was talking with another friend, well actually texting, and I find myself once again sharing my thoughts about this same game. It was then I realized that I had material for a new column.

I won't mention any of the players name, because with my memory I will sure enough leave someone out. Plus after watching this group of girls play, I can assure you that there will be plenty of articles written on them in the near future.

The first impressive thing I noticed was the team remembered who I was and actually knew what my name was. Now keep in mind I had only met this team briefly once, over a month ago, prior to showing up to their game unannounced. There are some high school coaches that I have interacted several times a week that fail to remember my name or call me someone else.

Next was their knowledge of the game on the field. Regardless of the situation, every player knew exactly what play to make, who needed to cover what base and who needed to back who up. There was no hesitation, the situation presented itself, and the players made the correct play. This may be a reflection of great coach (which the coach does know a thing or two about the game), but I am sure that even the best coaches at higher levels will admit that you can not teach intelligence.

Next example was the ability to recognize a mistake. After one player popped-out, when walking into the dugout the parent asked the daughter (very politely I may add) if she knew what she did wrong. The reply was: "Yes, I dropped my shoulder, that's why I popped it up." Now this embarrassed me somewhat, because I had just suffered through a dismal day batting in my tournament the day before, and I was asking teammates what I was doing wrong. Here was a kid more than half my age younger than me able to recognize her mistake on her own. Her next at bat she drilled a single to right field.

Later on the coach asked a player if she knew what mistake she had made in a certain situation at the plate. Without assistance, the player correctly answered and demonstrated the correct way, and relayed the message to the rest of her teammates.

At any level of competition, a game between two close opponents will come down to who executes better. This group of young ladies displayed excellent execution at both the plate and on the base paths. Batters were doing a great job of laying down bunts to move runners along, and the base runners did a great job of running the bases. Straight steals were made, delayed steals done text book, tagging on a fly ball and holding on line drives were all executed great. All fluently.

Defensive web gems were made just about every inning. A bare-handed pick-up and throw to first was made for an out. Running catches were made. An out at first base was recorded on a hit to the outfield. A leaping catch in the outfield and quickly firing back to second base for a double-play was made. And a diving catch was made in the outfield as well.

No folks, this was not from a college or high school game, this was all from a 12-and-under team during one game.

Needless to say, you are missing out on watching an exciting team if you do not get to a ballpark and watch this team play. As much of a pleasure they are to watch on the field, they are even more enjoyable to be around after games. Some have musical talent, some like to give play-by-play commentary after games, and others have some "PURDY GOOD" impersonation of their favorite coach.

This group is definitely worth the price of admission.

Travis David is a sports writer at the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached at (812) 847-4487, ext. 20 or at tdavid@gcdailyworld.com