The 11-and-12-year-old Kosciusko Dixie Youth baseball all-star team will compete in the state tournament beginning Friday in Brookhaven, with a goal of moving on to the World Series.
Kosciusko qualified for the state tournament by winning four straight games at the double elimination district tournament in Philadelphia. The team defeated Philadelphia 2-1, West Lauderdale 16-0, Philadelphia 14-7 and Yazoo City 15-2
“Our pitching throughout the tournament was outstanding,” said coach Jonathan Powers.
Six players did the pitching and all did well, according to Powers. They are Landon Wallace, Braxton Rone, Wes Bishop, Kaden Adams, Cooper Stevens and Bailey Powers, the coach's son.
“They all pitched and basically they didn't give up anything,” said Coach Powers.
Offensively, the team was led by Wallace, with a .750 batting average for the tournament, and Adams, with eight RBIs. But it was Braden Allen who had the biggest hit. In the 2-1 win over Philadelphia, he tripled in the first run, then scored the second run. Wallace, Rone and Bishop each pitched two innings in the game.
Powers and Stevens combined for the shutout against West Lauderdale.
Other members of the team are Ryan Burrell, Gabe Cain, Andrew Mancell, Ryan Tillman and Brayden Hill.
The state tournament is a 12-team double elimination event at the Lincoln County Convention Center and Sports Complex. Kosciusko will begin play at 6 p.m. Friday against a team from Laurel. The championship game is scheduled for Monday evening.
The winner will advance to the World Series August 4-9 in Lumberton, N.C.
“Our strengths are our pitching and defense,” Powers said. “We're working as hard as we can on hitting the ball. We're going to have to hit it a little bit better. But if we continue to pitch the way we have and play defense, we have a chance.”
He mentioned three teams that should be strong. “Columbia is always good. I'm hearing that Brookhaven, the host team, has some really good pitching. And I think Magee, out of Simpson County, is really strong.
Some of the Kosciusko players have experienced winning tournaments. The nine-year-old team won the World Series two years ago and another nine year old team won a state championship in 2015. Most of the players from those teams are now playing for Kosciusko.
The Kosciusko 5- and 6-year-old team finished third at the state tournament in Cleveland. In a coach pitch tournament, there were wins over Pike County 18-10, Pontotoc 22-3 and West Lauderdale 15-13. Both losses were against Sumrall, the team that won the tournament, 16-9 and 13-11.
“We played well, except for one bad game, coach Jeremy Dickerson said of the 16-9 loss. In the 13-11 game, Kosciusko left the bases loaded in the final inning.
Kosciusko qualified for the state tournament by winning a district tournament.
The Kosciusko 9-10 all stars were eliminated at the district level.
