For the second-straight year, the Tiny Laster Fastpitch softball tournament comes to Rockdale. The tournament, originally scheduled for three days, features 13 teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
 Due to snow Friday's game pitting Mississippi Valley State and Florida A&M was cancelled, and a decision wouldn't be made on Saturday's games until that morning.
 Teams competing in the snow-endangered tournament include, North Carolina A&T, which hasn't lost a game in eight tries in the tournament, defending SWAC champions Mississippi Valley State and defending MEAC champion Florida A&M.
 Also competing are Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, Grambling State, Hampton, Morgan State, Norfolk State, Tennessee State, South Carolina State, Maryland Eastern Shore and Winston-Salem State.
 Friday would have been a first ever for the tournament - two conference champions squaring off. The two teams will still play later in the event.
 The Devilettes, coming off their sixth straight SWAC title, bring a load of talent, including conference preseason pitcher of the year Lisa Jansen. Jansen won a conference-leading 15 games with a 2.64 ERA in 2009.
 The Rattlers bring mostly a new team from the one which raised the conference banner a year ago. Out of the 16 on the Rattlers roster, 12 are freshman and sophomores.
 Mississippi Valley State is coming off its sixth consecutive SWAC title and boasts conference preseason pitcher of the year Lisa Jansen, a native of Dietzenbach, Germany, who won a SWAC-high 15 games and had a 2.64 ERA in 2009.
 The offense was also potent for Mississippi Valley State in 2009, as it scored almost seven runs a game. Angelia Jones, Rashundra Brass and Ta'Niya Wallace were three of the SWAC's leaders in RBIs for the Devilettes.
 The Devilettes can also beat you at the plate, where the senior trio of SWAC RBI leader Angelia Jones, Rashundra Brass (.388 batting average) and Ta'Niya Wallace (.400 batting average) lead an offense that scored nearly seven runs per game in 2009.
 MEAC champion and NCAA Regional participant Florida A&M will be young - 12 of the 16 players on the roster are freshmen and sophomores - but the Rattlers are still one of tournament's top teams.
 There will be plenty more action in the pitchers circle on Saturday as three games run from a noon start time until 4 p.m. first pitch.
 Alcorn State State opens the day against Norfolk State at noon, followed by Grambling State vs. Winston-Salem State at 2 p.m. and Tennessee State against Hampton at 4 p.m.
 Norfolk State kicks off a three-game day on Sunday, facing Mississippi Valley State at 10 a.m. North Carolina A&T and Alcorn State follow at noon and Hampton vs. Alcron State rounds out the tournament at 2 p.m.
 Hampton not only ends the tournament, but also helped to give it its namesake.
 Laster, who passed away in May 2007 at 61-years old, was Hampton's coach since 1989 and had been involved in women's athletics since the implementation of Title IX in 1972.
 He quickly built the Lady Pirates into one of the top teams in Division II's Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, as they won back-to-back conference titles in 1994 and 95. After Hampton moved to Division I, it continued to succeed under Laster's tutelage. The Lady Pirates napped a three-year Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship run by Florida A&M, winning the title in 1996.