The Washington 8U and 10U All-Stars summer run came to an end recently in splendid style as the 8Us placed fifth in the Little Tar Heel League state tournament in Williamston and the 10Us took fourth.
“Both teams did fantastic,” Washington Cal Ripken League/Little Tar Heel League president Chip Edwards said. “We were very pleased with how both teams turned out and very pleased with how are kids played. The tournament was a great success for us and well run by Williamston.”
The 10Us, which won the District 7 title before heading to the state tourney, lost to a West Chatham team that used an illegal pitcher in their tourney opener. However, that was not discovered until it was too late and the tournament was forced to count the loss.
Despite the controversy, the All-Stars continued to play strong ball and finished with a 3-2 record to place fourth in the state.
“They were very proud of what they did, but it was rather bittersweet,” Edwards said. “There was a very unfortunate incident that occurred in the tournament. West Chatham had a kid that pitched for them and struck out nine of our batters, which is extremely unusually for our 10U team.
“That loss put them into the loser’s bracket where they won their next two games, and after the second loser’s bracket game we found out that the kid that pitched for West Chatham was actually 12 years old. West Chatham was cheating and the team was disqualified from the tournament but it could not be rectified because there had already been other teams that had been eliminated and several games had already been played.”
The 10Us, coached by Michael Craig, were able to keep their composure and finish strong.
“This is a great group of kids and parents and I’m extremely proud of what they were able to accomplish during the district and state tournaments,” Craig said. “To finish fourth in the state is something that all of them can be proud of and their journey during the tournaments is full of memories that will last a lifetime.
“Even though the team didn’t reach the state championship title game they can all hold their heads up high knowing that they are LTHL District 7 champions for a year.”
The 8Us, which are coached by Edwards and placed second in the district tournament, continued to play stellar defense and battled their way to a fifth-place finish.
“I was very, very pleased with them,” Edwards said. “The four teams that finished ahead of us, as well as the two teams that finished behind, us were all travel ball teams that had been playing together for upwards of a year together and where very familiar with each other and the scene. I did not have a single child on my team that played in a travel ball game.
“We were a true old-school rec league team of all-star players that finished fifth in the state so we were extremely pleased.”
The fifth-place finish capped off an exciting summer for the 8U All-Stars.
“It was a lot of fun from two perspectives,” Edwards said. “One, they had a really good time playing with each other because they are all really good friends. Two, they accomplished something they didn’t necessarily expect and that’s always a bonus.”