Carolina Xplosion bring home the gold

Local travel softball team perfect in Morganton tournament

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 7, 2021

Karter McIntosh and the Carolina Xplosion went 4-0 in the May 1 Top Gun Battle in Morganton softball tournament. The 8U team out of Swannanoa won a gold medal. Photo courtesy of Jaime Rigsby

A road trip to Morganton last weekend ended with a gold medal for the Swannanoa-based Carolina Xplosion 8U softball team.

Eleven teams took the field for the 2021 Top Gun Battle in Morganton, May 1, but the bats of the Carolina Xplosion powered them to a 4-0 sweep of the tournament. 

Most of the 13 players on the roster of the travel softball team have played together since they were 5, according to assistant coach Jarrod McIntosh, who along with Heather Godfrey is joined on the volunteer staff by head coaches Chad Link and Christy Testerman. 

The Carolina Xplosion 8U softball team, out of Swannanoa, celebrates winning a gold medal after the Top Gun Battle in Morganton. Pictured in the photo from left to right: (Back row) Chad Link, Christy Testerman, Heather Godfrey, Jarod McIntosh, (middle row) Karter McIntosh, Ava Godfrey, Aubrey Hutchins, Ele Smith, Shaylee Branch, Avalee Mills, (front row) Emory Rigsby, Ray Wilkie, Haven Hamiel, Maddie Boone, Kinslee Young, Evie Wiggs and Tutti Knupp. Photo courtesy of Carolina Xplosion

The one-day tournament featured teams from areas of Charlotte, Asheville, Statesville and Gaffney S.C., and the Carolina Xplosion wasted no time establishing its offensive approach with a 10-5 victory over the Yadkinville-based Carolina Cardinals Moss. 

The team from Swannanoa would go on to post double-digit run totals in every game, dispatching the NL Mountaineers, 12-10, in the second game of pool play. The Xplosion drove in 11 runs against the Carolina Queens after advancing to the gold bracket, and defeated the Bandits NC Patton out of Statesville, 11-9, in the championship game.

Kinslee Young fields a ball for the Carolina Xplosion in the May 1 Top Gun Battle in Morganton softball tournament. Photo courtesy of Jaime Rigsby

Three players hit home runs for the Xplosion in the tournament. Shaylee Branch led the way with two while Ray Wilkie and Ele Smith each hit one. 

The tournament championship was the second for the team, which earned gold medals in March.