Monique Dulaney works hard to develop her skills in sports. She is a stand out in fastpitch softball for the Red Bay Tigers, in basketball for the same team and plays travel ball for numerous teams at different times. She was recently awarded the All-County award for her leadership and skill during the Franklin County Tournament in April 2011 which added to her multiple past awards and MVP awards.
Monique pitched
342 pitches that day, with 193 strikes, 108 balls, and 41 hits Saturday alone.
Monique has been playing softball and basketball since age 6. From the beginning, coaches saw something special in this kid. Her team spirit and coachability are impressive to say the least. Monique doesn't complain, she just gets the job done. Her coaches agree that they don't have to ask her to perform on the court or on the field. She loves to win but when faced with a loss, she accepts it graciously and with a professionalism that many professional ball players could learn from.
Monique cares for her teammates. She is always the first one to pick someone up when they are down and shows a strength and character seldom witnessed in team sports today. She is serious about her team and about winning, but it doesn't consume her. Monique's heart is what makes her different. Her work ethic is incredible.
We look forward to bringing you more news on this up and coming star and we wish Monique the best of luck in her career. We are, to say the very least, extremely proud of our girl.
Here is a story written about the Red Bay Tigers JV team in April of 2011.
An unlikely success story
The Red Bay Lady Tigers JV fastpitch softball team traveled to Tharpetown on Friday and Saturday, April 1st and 2nd to compete in the Franklin County tournament for 2011. The Lady Tigers had met Tharpetown earlier in the year and lost a close game.
Fans of the young team understood going in to this tournament that the team was the underdog. Coaches Roberts, Cox, and Sharp had worked hard all year to build a new team to continue the winning ways of the varsity girls fastpitch team. Girls that had very little experience “stepped up to the plate” early in the year and committed to the team. They worked through every game during the season but had only won one game going into the tournament.
It is very understandable when you have young ladies with very little experience, that they would not have a good chance to win a championship. Parents and fans watched in each game as the team got progressively better and began to grow into a cohesive unit and belief in the young team grew. It was clear that the coaches saw something in this group of young ladies. The coaches were right.
The Lady Tigers began the tournament with a loss on Friday night to undefeated Tharpetown. Other teams might have lost heart. Some fans thought it would be a short tournament as the Lady Tigers geared up Saturday morning to play in a “do or die” game with Belgreen. It was a long shot for the young team to play five games in one day and come out on top. But someone forgot to tell this group of scrappy young Tigers.
Belgreen played a great game and threatened to send the Lady Tigers home early but when the dust settled the Lady Tigers were on top 5 to 2. Monique Dulaney as pitcher and Jade Faulkner as catcher, handled 58 pitches, 45 of them strikes, to start off the day.
The second game pitted Red Bay against Vina. Vina had no intention of going down without a real fight. Impressive pitching and even more impressive hind catching played a big part in their attack. Both teams showed real class as they battled out who would advance. Red Bay again came out ahead. Dulaney pitched 89 pitches, 64 of them strikes and Faulkner was dirty from head to toe as a result of her dedication behind the plate.
Late in the day Phil Campbell took the field with intentions much like that of the other teams and they met the same resistance from Red Bay. The Lady Tigers squeaked by a tough game and won their third game of the day 7 to 5. Dulaney threw another 81 pitches, 49 strikes, and Faulkner stayed in the trenches with her.
As the sun began to set the little Red Bay team was worn out, battered and bruised. They had fought their way to face the undefeated Tharpetown team who looked fresh. Red Bay would have to beat Tharpetown twice to win the Franklin County Championship. Who could muster the energy to play two more games after having put so much heart into getting through such a long tournament. Again, someone forgot to tell Red Bay to just call it a day.
Every girl on the team took the field with an expectation of winning. Every at bat, every pitch, every throw was at 100%; however Tharpetown proved to be too much, to fresh and too talented to overcome. They took advantage of every situation and played with the skill that had brought them to the tournament undefeated and they handed Red Bay a 14 to 1 loss which ended the Lady Tigers tournament. Dulaney was relieved for an inning but still ended up pitching 114 pitches which meant that all total she and Faulkner had handled over 342 pitches that day, with 193 strikes, 108 balls, and 41 hits Saturday alone.
Someone yelled during the last game as Red Bay took the field, “This is where heart comes to the game.” It can be honestly said that on this day, on this field in Alabama, that heart was the one thing that the Lady Tigers had plenty of. They set the example that we all hope to see in a sporting event and they played with style and poise rarely seen today.
