DPD, DFD Win Big At Battle of the Badges

Monday, September 9th, 2024

For the third straight year, the City of Dalton won the Battle of the Badges charity softball tournament with the police and fire departments finishing tied for top honors. This time, however, a Whitfield County agency also finished tied for first. The real winners, however, were the three local charities that will share more than $8,200 raised by Saturday's event. 

Caption: Members of the four teams posed for a group photo after the games Saturday

Saturday's softball competition began with the Dalton Police Department beating the Dalton Fire Department 10-9. The DPD missed out on the chance to win it all, however, losing in their second game to the Whitfield County Fire Department in a 14-12 slugfest. The Dalton Fire Department handed the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office its second loss of the round-robin tournament to finish in a three-way tie for first place with the DPD and Whitfield County Fire. The DFD brought home the trophy, however, thanks to allowing fewer runs in the tournament and thus clinching the tie-breaker.

The battle for bragging rights among Whitfield County's four largest public safety agencies was the main event Saturday, but the impact of the money raised by the event will be felt long after the game scores are forgotten. Saturday's event raised at least $8,200 with proceeds from t-shirt sales at the event still waiting to be totaled. The event will benefit the Grace & Joy House, the Dalton Police and Fire Departments' Shop With A Hero fund, and Dalton-Whitfield Special Olympics. Last year's event raised $6,000 for the charities. 

The participating agencies thank event sponsors Advantage Sports, Alliant Health Plans, Baja Coop, Cafe Ostro, Carol's Fashions, Carniceria Nacho, Chick-fil-A Dalton Mall, Cyra's, Deep Spring Vineyards, Dr. Bill Chung DDS, Elite Apparel, Fraternal Order of Police, GT Distributors, HB1 Solutions, Helton Tire, Jefferson's, Kids Community Learning Center, LA Transmissions, Mohawk, Painting Peeps, Riverside Stoneworks, LLC, Shaw Industries, Silvas Mechanical Bull, Stroll-n-Shine, The Battlesgrounds Games & Comics, The Buckin Burrito, The Coffee Boutique, The Fade Barbershop, The Local, The Paper Princess, Tractor Supply Co., Tunnel Hill Nutrition, Varnell Cafe, Varnell Wine and Spirits, Walmart, Wolfe Garage Solutions, and Yellowstone. 

Click here to see a photo gallery with more images from Saturday's games on the City of Dalton's Facebook page.