Submitted photo
The 8-year-old ESLL boys’ team recently claimed the championship in their District 2 tournament. The district title was the first by an ESLL program but was quickly followed with another by the Surry County Junior team. Here, members of the 8-year-old team pose with their championship trophy. They are, first row, Eli Bullington, Gunner Jones, Colby Guy, Cameron Whitaker, Cade Williams, Gage Hall; second row, Daniel Booze, Seth Keener, A.J. Wilson, Kain Kiser, Koby Clark, Nicholas Shoffner; third row, Coach Stan Shoffner, Coach Chad Whitaker, Manager Mike Kiser and Coach Lyle Bullington. Not pictured is Jefferson Boaz.
On June 26, the 8-year-old ESLL boys’ team claimed the program’s first District 2 championship title, sweeping four games at the Southwest Forsyth Little League Field in Clemmons. This was only the second year for the program to compete in the District 2 “kids’ pitch” tournament.
They were joined at the top just over a week later, when the Surry County Junior (ages 13-14) team claimed their own District 2 championship. The team was composed of eight players from the ESLL program and four players from the Mount Airy program. According to Mount Airy Little League President Andrew French, the combined team was approved by the Little League Incorporated Southern Region as neither league had enough players sign to make up a team.
District 2 is composed of 22 area programs, encompassing much of northwestern North Carolina. Both teams will now advance to state tournaments scheduled to begin later this month. The eight-year-olds will be traveling to Durham this weekend to begin play while juniors will begin their tournament on July 25 at the Northwest Forsyth American Little League Field in Pfafftown.
The Surry County Junior team went into their tournament after sweeping through regular play in dominate fashion with a 14-0 record. During the season, the team had outscored its opponents by a 210-11 margin. The ten players selected to the all-star tournament team were Sam Harris, Dustin Johnson, Payden Simmons, Cameron Sheets, Eric Sonafrank, Jeremy Gilley, Zach Koons , Drew Wilson, Nick Smith and Zach French. Harris had played on the Mount Airy Middle School team this past season while Simmons and Johnson had played for Gentry Middle School and the other players all played for Pilot Mountain Middle School, the undefeated Foothills Conference champions.
The Surry junior team continued its perfect run through the tournament, sweeping three games. In the championship game, Surry broke open a scoreless tie with four runs in the third, going on to claim a
7-0 victory. Johnson and Koons combined to pitch the shutout.
Coach Randy Sheets applauded his players for their effort and teamwork. “This has been a good year,” he noted, “and this has been a good group of kids to work with.”
The eight-year-olds also swept through their four-game tournament without a loss. The all-star team, composed of players from Shoals and Westfield elementary schools, topped host team Kernersville in the championship with a narrow 6-5 win. Manager Mike Kiser attributed much of the team’s success to strong pitching performances from Kain Kiser, Seth Keener and Colby Guy but also pointed to overall good defense and base running along with timely hitting as key elements.
“I’m proud of the boys,” Kiser said. “They were the first East Surry team to win a district title. That will help the program in the future. And I’m proud of the way they carried themselves and of their good sportsmanship.”
“This has been a very good year for East Surry Little League Baseball,” ESLL President Kevin Sisk said. “We claimed our first two district banners ever in baseball. That’s good for the program, especially being able to win two in the same season. This experience helps our boys to be recognized as an up-and-coming program.”
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