Battle of the Badges: DPD vs. WCSO For Softball Bragging Rights
Thursday, August 11th, 2022
Officers from the Dalton Police Department interact with their counterparts from the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office every day of the week. Whether it's backing each other up on a hot call, sharing information in investigations, or simply waving at one another as they pass on the road, they all know each other.
That's why it's going to be painful for whoever loses this game.
The DPD and WCSO will face off in the "Battle of the Badges" charity softball game on September 10th at Riverbend Park. Admission is free and open to the public. Opening ceremonies will begin at 5:00 pm.
"Bragging rights are definitely important," said Sergeant David Saylors, a supervisor in Dalton's patrol division and more importantly the player-coach for the department's newly restarted softball team. "You definitely want to win and then you’ve got a whole year to talk about it. But at the end, we do work together and we work well together."
Caption: Sergeant David Saylors holds up one of the jerseys that Dalton officers will wear during the "Battle of the Badges" charity softball game. Dalton's squad is called "The Finest" while Whitfield County's is nicknamed "The Enforcers."
There will be more fun than just the game - there will be inflatable play areas for the kids, raffles for prizes, a national anthem performance by Nashville recording artist Lee Newton, and much more. Proceeds from money raised by the event will benefit Shop With A Cop, the Grace and Joy House, and Special Olympics Georgia.
Planning for the event started earlier this summer. As Sergeant Saylors points out, the challenge from the sheriff's office came after their team had already gotten some time on the field.
"You know, they’ve been practicing for a while now and they have played in a midnight madness tournament, so we’re behind the 8 ball," Saylors said with a smile. "We haven't played as a team since 2018 and we've practiced one time. I tell them we’re like the softball version of the Mighty Ducks – we’ll come up with a golden game plan at the end and we’ll squeeze the game out."
The fact that Saylors is channeling national runner-up football coach Nick Saban and painting the picture of a team that's in rebuilding mode might not inspire confidence in backers of the city squad - nor does the fact he chose a hockey movie to refer to instead of one of the dozens of baseball movies out there - but make no mistake: Sergeant Saylors does predict a Dalton victory.
"I think it's going to go well," Saylors said. "Outside of just the softball game that we're going to win, we're more excited about the camaraderie not just among ourselves as a department and between us and the sheriff's office, but also between us and the community."
When asked about the strengths of his softball squad, Saylors pointed toward solid glove work and fundamentals.
"I think our ultimate strength is going to lie in our defense, in our quick ability to close those gaps and get to the ball," he said. "The arm strength and the ability to get the ball to hit the cutoff guys and just play fundamental softball."
Dalton currently has 17 players who are interested in playing on the squad, some of whom will be unable to participate due to their duty schedule. Among the players are some experienced officers and also some younger talent.
"You've got the old, old OG (Assistant) Chief Chris Crossen, he's bringing his skills back. He came out to practice the other day like he never missed a beat, bat on the ball and chasing down ground balls," Saylors said. "And then we've got the new guy, Chase Jenkins. He brings a lot of talent from his college baseball experience playing at Cumberland College in Kentucky. He reminds me of Austin Riley, he just barely swings the bat and the ball travels."
Department officials confirm that Jenkins was not hired solely to play on the agency's softball team despite his experience as a college athlete, but it is indeed a nice bonus.
What's most important in the game isn't who wins or who loses, it's a chance for the community to come together and get to know the people who serve the people of Dalton and Whitfield County on a daily basis. And the chance to raise money for some great charities is a great plus.
"The real big thing for this is just the community getting to see and talk to officers or deputies outside of an emergency situation where you have them coming to a call or a car crash or something like that," Saylors said.
But once the game starts, winning's going to be a big deal, too.
