By Marla Jones, Sports Editor
HOKES BLUFF, Ala. — The Henagar Mountaineers 9 & 10 year old baseball team finished as runner up in the Dixie Youth District 8 Tournament this past weekend in Hokes Bluff. They are headed to the sub-state tournament in Priceville on July 7 thru 9.
Their record in the district tourney was 4-2. They lost the first game of the series and fought out of the losers bracket to make it the championship game, despite not drawing a bye out of three one-loss teams
Game 1: Piedmont 11, Mountaineers 10. Henagar came back from 11- 8 deficit and lost a heartbreaker on a tremendous leaping grab by the Piedmont shortstop on a line drive to end the game. Tyler Brewer went 2-2 with a walk. Joshua Scott, Griffin Weldon, Tyler Brewer and Austyn Lindsey all doubled. Noah Hulgan, Joshua Scott, and Logan Wilks combined for 7 strikeouts from the mound.
Game 2: Mountaineers 21, South Dekalb-Collinsville 8. Joshua Scott, Logan Wilks, and Gavin Chambers doubled. Wilks also tripled. Chambers, Brewer, and Scott combined for 11 strikeouts from the mound.
Game 3: Cherokee National 4, Mountaineers 14. The officials called the game for the Mountaineers in the fourth inning against the Cherokee County team. Eain Bain, Wesley Gothard, Griffin Weldon, and Austyn Lindsey all doubled. Thomas Keith tripled. Gavin Chambers pitched a complete game.
Game 4: Glencoe 6, Mountaineers 10. Wesley Gothard and Austyn Lindsey doubled. Gavin Chambers pitched 2 innings with Joshua Scott closing out the game. Chambers and Scott combined for 6 strikeouts.
Game 5: Glencoe 1, Mountaineers 5. Lucas Putnam tripled. Noah Hulgan and Logan Wilks each pitched 3 innings. Hulgan had 6 strikeouts.
Game 6: Piedmont 17, Mountaineers 4. Mountaineers playing second game of back-to-back vs. Piedmont team couldn't claim the title. Tanner Haynes doubled.
Overall Tournament: The Henagar Mountaineers turned three double plays during tournament.
From the mound, Noah Hulgan and Gavin Chambers shouldered the load as pitchers. The team had no trouble swinging the bat. The top five batters for the team were Joshua Scott, Wesley Gothard, Lucas Putnam, Eian Bain, and Austyn Lindsey.
The Mountaineers are lead by Head Coach Tony Keith and Assistant Coaches Roger Scott, Craig Hulgan, and Winston Wilks.
Members of the team consists of players from Sylvania, Ider, Valley Head, and Henagar.
As a team, they chose the motto "Paint Your Board." It's a reference to the Bible story of Noah needing to completely cover the wooden boards of the boat with a waterproofing substance so that it would float and not sink.
“For our players, it means that each player has a ‘board to paint’ or job to do, and that everyone must do your job completely in order for us to succeed as a single team,” said Coach Keith.
"Our boys are excited about the opportunity to play at sub-state," said Keith, "the players have been working to raise money for our trip, and we know they'll enjoy the experience of playing baseball at the state level.”
"They understand it's an opportunity to compete against other quality teams and do a good job representing our families, communities, and northeast Alabama," Keith said.
Southern Torch wishes the team best of luck to the Henagar Mountaineers in the sub-state tournament. We will continue to follow them as they prepare to compete for the Dixie Youth State All-Star Championship!
