After four years, a first-place trophy just had to be inevitable.

The 12U Gainesville Cannons travel softball team, featuring several players that have moved up together throughout the years, finally brought home the gold from a tournament over the Memorial Day weekend and followed up at states with a second-place finish.

Winning the Virginia USSSA Northern Virginia Memorial Day NIT title on May 29 finally pushed Gainesville over the edge from competitor to champion given the rash of silver finishes this season and in the years before for this particular group of players.

Gainesville claimed its title in grandiose fashion by earning a 12-0 run-rule win in the finals.

According to head coach Troy Toureau, the victory there helped instill enough confidence in his players that they could enter the ASA B state tournament two weeks later and earn another first for the program: a No. 1 seed after exiting introductory pool play undefeated.

"I think they realized that all the hard work really paid off, that they believed in themselves," he said.

Toureau explained that, prior to the double-elimination tournament at states, no Gainesville team had topped the Northern Virginia powerhouse Vienna Stars in a single game.

While the Stars ended up winning the tournament over Gainesville with back-to-back wins by margins of 3-2 and 8-4 , the Cannons did managed to win one game of their own against the Stars in the semi-finals.

That victory, coupled with a 3-0 record in pool play, came in large part to an overwhelming offensive movement in which the girls outscored their first four opponents 37-15.

Catcher Ashley Marchand stood out as the Cannons' top slugger during that stretch and throughout the tournament, compiling a .611 batting average. She also drove in 18 runs and clubbed three doubles in the process of going 11 for 18 at the plate.

A power hitter who "consistently hits the ball hard into the outfield," Toureau credited Marchand, who batted third in the Cannon's line-up, with having a "fast" bat speed and a reliable go-to player for contact.

"She's an 11 (year old) and she can hit the ball with the best of the 12 year olds," he said.

Meanwhile, her battery mate Allison Wagner led the defensively charge from the pitching circle with a four-pitch selection that included a fastball, change up, rise and curve ball.

Her success came in part from the help she received by outfielders Heather Mann, Aden Wooliver and Meghan Andrews, whom Toureau noted tracked down would-be hits in order to make "spectacular catches in the outfield.

He singled out Andrews in particular, saying, "You wouldn't think a girl at that age would be able to get those balls but she'd come out of nowhere to get there."

Shortstop Rebecca Utney, who is also the team's No. 2 pitcher and usually in one of the top two slots in the line-up, provided "a gun" of an arm in the infield, Toureau said, mentioning that she typically wins ribbons in tournaments bestowed by other teams for outstanding play.

"She's such a good teammate, she wishes that sometimes the other girls were to get that ribbons," he said.

Kelsey Brown added support on offense with a 10-for-17 showing at the plate (.588), which ended up being a welcome relief for the team given that she battled back from a broken thumb in order to play.

Gainesville ended its season in Charlottesville late last month, as an excuse to just leave the area given that the girls played their two previous tournaments in Sterling, Toureau said.

While some members are slated to move up to the 14U level next season, the 12U team should realistically have a decent shot at building on its success next season given the number of 11-year-old returners, such as Wagner and Marchand.

More information about the Cannons can be found at http://www.cannonssoftball.com.