Sale Creek loves state-bound teams -- especially when they're historic.
The Lady Panthers headed to Murfreesboro for the state softball tournament with incredible support from fans, friends and local government.
"It's so cool," said Jordan Duncan, the lone senior on the team. "We had streamers all over the school, and we painted all the cars following behind that belong to parents.
"Everybody is so excited."
Sale Creek is participating in a state softball tournament for the first time in the 33-year history of the program.
"All the people in the community got involved, and I've had so many donations that help us pay for the trip," coach Clifford Kirk said. "I thought we were a year or two away from reaching state, but everything fell in line this year.
"I'm happy for the kids and happy for the community."
The players boarded a bus and were whisked away Monday amid a throng of school supporters with police vehicles spinning their lights and fire trucks wailing their sirens. The Sale Creek alumni association created gift bags for the players full of toys, trinkets and snacks.
Players painting cars seemed more spontaneous.
"We gave folks a heads-up about painting cars with things like 'Making History' and 'State-Bound,'" Duncan said. "It was so cool."
Sale Creek is one of six Chattanooga-area teams competing for a state championship this week at Spring Fling. All of the others have participated in past state tournaments.
Ooltewah is the lone Class AAA participant. Baylor and Girls Preparatory School are Division II-AA qualifiers. Central in Class AA and Marion County and Sale Creek in Class A are the others.
"We've been striving as hard as we can to get further and further and hopefully win state," junior pitcher McKenna Morgan said. "We're preparing mentally and physically to give it our all."
The Lady Owls of Ooltewah have a similar goal, according to coach Jon Massey. His team will depart for Murfreesboro today with the same mission as the Lady Panthers.
There will be one difference upon departure.
"There won't be any fire trucks or cop cars guiding us," Massey joked. "We'll get on the freeway and go west."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP