Memorial Day Weekend 2002 will certainly be unforgettable for the Dyersburg-based Tennessee Diamond Dolls after the team claimed the championship in the Collierville Lady Dragon Invitational in Shelby County.

Led by 11-year-old pitching aces Jessica Smith and Heather Morris, the Dolls rolled to victory and, along the way, knocked off two talented, veteran teams. Before the weekend event, the TDD club was a combined 0-6 against the Jackson Southern Starz and the Atoka - South Tipton Storm, the defending 12-and-under Tennessee state champions. At Collierville, the Dolls pounded the Starz 9-3 in pool play and then knocked the Storm out of the tourney with a 7-3 triumph in the semifinals.

In the title round, the Diamond Dolls topped Collierville 4-3. After taking a week off, the Dolls will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the SEMO Fast-Pitch Classic beginning June 7.

Diamond Dolls 5, Clarksdale, Miss., Stingers 0 Morris twirled a two-hit shutout and fanned six as the Dolls opened the tourney with a win on Friday.

Morris and Stingers pitcher Amy Smith were paired together for the first time since the title round at the Germantown Invitational last year, which won by the Dolls, and the duo matched zeros on the scoreboard until the fourth. Helping her own cause, Morris singled, stole a base and scored on a hit by Kacee Eaves to give TDD the lead. In the fifth, Allyson Agee and Alissa McGee drew walks and waltzed home when Emily Greer corked a hit to left center. Eaves capped the scoring with a home run in the sixth.

Miss. Cardinals 6, Diamond Dolls 3 Smith and Amber Hayes combined to limit the Cardinals to one clean hit, but a shaky Dolls defense yielded five unearned runs. Kacee Eaves, Lacey Eaves and Morris accounted for the Dolls' runs. Greer stretched her hitting streak to seven games with a fourth-inning single.

Diamond Dolls 9, Southern Starz 3 Tennessee jumped on the Starz early, hitting the favorites with three runs in the first frame. Hayes and Tiffany Estes sandwiched singled around a ringing double by Greer to ignite the offense. Ali McBride jolted a solid hit to cap the team's five-run fifth. Greer paced the assault with two hits and three runs scored. Morris tossed a four-hitter to take the pitching verdict.

Diamond Dolls 8,DeSoto Illusions 2 Again, an early start vaulted the Dolls to victory. Hayes drew a walk before Greer and Estes reached on errors. McBride cleared the bases with an inside-the-park shot which found the left-center field gap. Tennessee added a pair of insurance runs in the third and fifth stanzas. Greer and Kacee Eaves each picked up singles with McBride and Estes stroking doubles Smith shook a shaky start that included two unearned runs in the first by striking out the side. She finished the contest with a two-hitter and seven strikeouts.

Diamond Dolls 7, S. Tipton Storm 3 Facing one of Tennessee's top teams, Morris scattered six hits and the TDD offense took care of business. Greer smacked a single to lead off the second inning to stretch her hitting streak to 10 games and Morris blasted a long triple to right center to give the Dolls a lead they would not relinquish.

In the third, Lacy Eaves singled and Hayes walked. Both speedy Dolls swiped bases to move into scoring position. Morris booked her second triple to pad the lead. In the fifth, three more runs added to the cushion. Greer's two-bagger and a Morris single produced an RBI and the club coasted into the title round.

Diamond Dolls 4, Collierville 3 The TDD squad took the lead in the third when Smith blooped a single to right and Hayes reached on an error. Both runners raced home when a grounder on the infields was booted.

The host Lady Dragons knotted it up, but the Dolls regained the lead with a one-run answer in the fifth. when Hayes ripped a single, stole second and third and pranced home on Kacee Eaves' clutch double. Hayes then scored what proved to be the game-winner in the top of the seventh. The Dolls' star shortstop laced a single, pilfered second and third and sprinted home on a grounder to second by Kacee Eaves.

Morris handled the pitching chores into the fourth before handing the ball to Smith, who wrapped the game up by working around a potential problem in the Collierville seventh.

For the tourney, Smith was 2-1 with an 0.51 earned run average. Morris won three games and posted a 0.38 ERA.

The championship was the first by the Diamond Dolls singe the club claimed the top prize at the SSAA World Series at Pigeon Forge, Tenn., last July.