SOUTHAVEN — It was another big weekend for Starkville baseball in Dizzy Dean play once again with 12U and 8U All-Star teams competing for the World Series crown in Southaven.
The Starkville White 8U All-Stars went undefeated throughout the tournament, including the best of three championship series against Indianola, to bring home the title.
“It’s impressive they were able to run through both tournaments undefeated,” head coach Jase Abraham said. “They practiced hard multiple times a week and they earned this.”
Abraham’s team started the weekend hot at the plate and stayed hot through the Mississippi heat, winning their first two games 21-2 and 22-0, respectively.
Starkville again won both its games on Saturday, winning 8-0 in the morning before beating the Clarksdale All-Stars to book its place in the championship series.
On Sunday, the team continued its dominant run, winning both games against Indianola
“I believe they went undefeated in their bracket as well before we met them in the championship series,” Abraham said of Starkville’s opponents, “We won 10-1 in the first game on Sunday and then the second one was a close game, closer than the score suggests, but we finally broke it open with 7 runs in one inning and won 13-6.”
The All-Stars had several players named to the All-Tournament team as well, with MJ Butler, Porter Baker, Smith Abraham, Kellum Cox and Parker Bell all recognized for their performances. To add to the celebrations, Butler was named the tournament MVP.
“I made sure to tell the team that honestly anybody could have been named to the All-Tournament team,” Abraham said. “They were all outstanding, and everyone had moments along the way. One of our most clutch hits came in the last game of the championship series from Gabe Reynolds. They all hit well the whole weekend and played such good defense, something this team really hangs their hat on.”
Two undefeated tournament runs and both State and World Series Dizzy Dean titles wrap up a big summer of baseball for the team. It was a talented group of kids who now make the jump to player-pitch ball next season, and hope to make this the first of many more big tournaments.
“The other parents and I all talked about it toward the end, it was just a special group of boys. They competed against each other in rec, some played against each other in travel ball and some played together, but they came together for this team. From the beginning you could tell they meshed well and they were so unselfish, willing to play and hit wherever, and they made such a strong team.”
The Starkville 12U team made a tournament run of their own, going 5-2 over the weekend but falling to the eventual tournament finalists. They lost in the second round to eventual champions, Meridian, before fighting back to the semi-final round to face the eventual runners-up, Clarksdale.
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