The Washington All-Stars put forth a strong effort at the Little Tar Heel League District 6 tournament in Jamesville as the 10U All-Stars dug deep to win the District 6 crown while the 8U All-Stars’ stellar defense allowed them to snare second place. As a result of that, both teams will advance to the Little Tar Heel League state tournament in Williamston next Thursday.
The 10U All-Stars recovered from a loss to Jamesville earlier in the tournament and beat the Jamesville All-Stars in back-to-back games to capture the crown on Monday night.
Washington Cal Ripken League/Little Tar Heel League president Chip Edwards said the team’s hot hitting was the key to advancing.
“This Washington 10U team can hit the baseball,” Edwards said. “I believe they had six home runs in six games and scored double-digits in all but one of their games.”
The 10U team, which is coached by Michael Craig, also got some timely efforts on the hill.
“Their pitching has come around,” Edwards said. “They struggled a little bit early but they have come around and have excelled. I expect them to make some noise in the state tournament.”
Edwards said the team was thrilled to come home with some hardware and continue its season.
“They’re very excited,” Edwards said. “Especially having to come back from the loser’s bracket. They never hung their heads. (Coach Craig) was very proud to see them all come together. He has a good group of parents and a good group of kids that all know their roles on the team and play them well and to the best of their abilities.”
Edwards, who coaches the 8U All-Stars, was also proud of the way his team battled at the district tourney.
“We exceeded all of my expectations,” Edwards said. “Out of 10 teams in our tournament we finished second to an Edenton team that hadn’t lost in several tournaments that they played in.
“… In the championship game against Edenton, Edenton won in six innings, 1-0, in an errorless eight-year old ball game. There were no errors made by either team which is almost unheard of in an eight-year old game.”
Edwards said the team’s ability to prevent runs was the key to its second-place finish.
“They exceeded my expectations, especially defensively,” Edwards said. “I knew that we would have a little bit of difficulty on offense because we had to switch over to coach-pitch (instead of using a machine) and that’s another deciding factor in what we were doing. We played teams that had been doing coach-pitch for a year and we had been doing it for a month. … Even though we didn’t score many runs the defense had been outstanding. All the way from the catcher’s position to the outfield it has been fantastic.”
Washington also made a good run in the 12U bracket as its 11U team placed fourth and its 12U team took third.
“Both of those teams played very well and they are very well-rounded,” Edwards said. “The 12U team made it to the final game of the winner’s bracket against Tarboro, which is a fantastic team, and lost to Tarboro and then had to turn around and play Jamesville in the final loser’s bracket game and lost there.
“The 11-year olds are really excited about doing this again next year because I think they will have a good team with good experience. They competed well as a bunch of 11-year olds against a bunch of 12-year olds, so I’m sure they’re excited about next year.”
The Washington 9U team was also in action as the All-Stars competed in the Cal Ripken League state tournament in Winterville where they put on a strong showing.
“In pool play they played three games and won two and lost one but because of (run differential) and how they calculate that in pool play they did not qualify for single-elimination,” Edwards said. “They did a fantastic job this summer. I know they had some issues with some kids being out because of summer vacations and other responsibilities so that threw them in a tizzy a little bit, but they are a good group of kids and a good group of athletes. They played really well.”
Edwards also wanted to pay thanks to Jamesville for hosting a well-run tournament.
“Jamesville did a fantastic job with their tournament and having to manage the weather-related issues,” Edwards said. “I think we had three nights that were cancelled because of rain and they still had a fantastic tournament. They did a great job.”