By Robert Hudson

The Selma Times-Journal

The Valley Grande youth baseball program is only in its second year of existence, but its all-star teams are finding big success on the diamond.

Valley Grande has four all-star baseball teams moving on to state competition.

“We’re happy,” said league director Richard Davis. “It’s a small league, but the kids have worked hard, and the parents have worked hard.”

Valley Grande’s 8-and-under baseball team won its district and is heading to the state tournament in Rainbow City, while the 9-year-old team qualified for a state tournament in Gadsden after finishing second in its district tournament.

Valley Grande’s 4-year-olds are playing to see where they will be seeded in Wetumpka and its 15-year-olds are playing for seeding in Childersburg. Davis said the top two teams in each district go to the state tournament and are put in the first-place pool and the second-place pool, respectively. After about four days of competition, the winners of those two pools are placed in a common pool to determine the state champion and the runner-up.

Davis said the city is proud of how far the youth program has come in such a short period of time.

“It’s been a great year,” Davis said. “Last year the 7-and-8-year-old team was district runner-up, and now they’re district champions. We’re so proud.”

Davis said a lot of the success can be attributed to the play of the kids on the field and the efforts of the mayor, the city council and the parents to get the facilities needed for the teams to compete.

“They stood behind the kids and supported them very well,” Davis said. “It’s been a great year for the kids. We hope the program continues to grow and hope the kids can have another great year next year.”