Armstrong: All-star state tourney play begins this week
By Bruce Armstrong
The baseball and softball all-star season is a very special time of the year in Hope Mills. Many of my best sports memories involve coaching and observing all-star competition. The emotion, passion and intensity of all-star tournaments are feelings every young athlete and their families should experience.
I have previously recognized our 9-10-year-old girls, 11-12-year-old girls and 13-15-year-old girls. They all won district Dixie Youth championships and began state tournament play this week in Cherryville. Our 7-8-year-old Dixie Darlings All-Stars had no District 6 competition and advanced directly to the state tournament.
The Dixie Darlings All-Stars are coached by Jim Nelson, Jason Deal and Shannon Powell. Team members are Savannah Briskey, Zoey Chambers, Allyson Clair, Dorothy Cook, Madison Deal, Skylar Jenkins, Morgan Masson, Drew Menscer, Haley Nelson, Danielle Novak, Summer Powell and Kerosen Riveira.
In the 11-12-year-old baseball program, Hope Mills sanctioned two different leagues. The minors 12-and-under league plays traditional rules that include a 46-foot pitcher's mound, 60-foot bases, no base runners leading off and no balks. The new "O" Zone league plays AAU-style rules: 50-foot mound, 70-foot bases, runners lead off, balks are called, pitchers use the "stretch" delivery with runners on base.
The Dixie Minor league all-stars were coached by Jeff Morrow, Brian Rice and Robert Santiago. Their squad included Brandon Council, Josh Davis, Tucker Eller, Dwayne Evans Jr., Dalton Gaskins, Joseph Guidry, Trevor Locklear, Ethan Miller, Zachary Rice, Ryan Santiago, Wade Sessoms and Anthony Yarborough Jr. They competed in the District 9 tournament in Lumberton last week and were eliminated with two losses.
The "O" Zone league all-stars did not have any District 9 competition and advanced directly to the state "O" Zone tournament in Albemarle.
They won their first game over Albemarle with Blake Hair the winning pitcher and D.J. Bishop hitting a home run. Hope Mills had a second round bye and will be one of eight teams still competing in the third round of games.
In addition to Hair and Bishop, the "O" Zone All-Stars included Zachery Bagley, Juuki Chilcutt, Logan Harris, Robert Hemingway III, Andrew Jayne, Christian Jayne, Thomas Lindsay, Daniel Owens, Austin Rivers and Andrew Sabalboro. The team's head coach is Clarence Maxwell, and assistant coaches are Blaine Harris and Mark Pribble.
Good luck to our young women and men in the state tournaments. We are very proud of all of you. You should take great pride in representing Hope Mills.
See you at the games.
Bruce Armstrong is a lawyer who lives in Hope Mills. He can be reached at LawyerArmstrong@aol.com.