Teams travel across state to compete in baseball tournaments

Published 8:27 pm Monday, July 17, 2017

This past weekend, several Selma all-star baseball teams competed in state tournaments hoping to extend their seasons. Winning the state tournament would earn them a bid to a World Series.

The 12U team had slightly better luck, but not quite enough to win state. In Andalusia, they lost the first game to Munford 6-2. They were able to pull off two back-to-back wins against Glencoe and Dothan National Blue 10-6 and 12-5 respectively. But in the elimination round, they were defeated 7-6 by Troy to finish eighth in the state.

“We broke the curse and didn’t get put out the first two games,” coach Jason Rogers said. “We had a good season and went down swinging. We’ll come back next year and do better.”

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The 13 year olds went to Dothan, but were turned away after two games. They lost the first game to Troy 13-8 and the second to Southeastern 10-7.

“I’m proud of our kids,” coach Jerome Hand said. “They played their hearts out and we just came up short.”

The 14U team finished their weekend in Dothan with a 1-2 record. They split pool play with a 8-1 loss to Ozark and a 16-1 victory over Bellingrath. An 11-3 loss to Dothan eliminated the team from the state tournament on Monday.

“We’re proud of them for sticking together all the way to the end,” coach Will Roberts said.

The 15U team had the best run out of the Selma teams during their trip to Pelham. After losing the first game to Dothan 7-5, the team won three straight against Hueytown (13-4), Post 555 (13-2) and Greenville (11-0). The team made it to the semi-finals and were two wins away from possibly another state championship.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the tournament was postponed to next weekend due to rain. Since they already qualified for the World Series in Louisiana, coach Ricky Waters and his team will drop out of the semi-finals and focus on their upcoming trip.

The 8U Selma stars traveled to Enterprise this past weekend, but were unable to win state. Unfortunately, the coach was unavailable for comment and score updates.

The 10U all-star team went to Troy and were also unable to advance. They lost their first game to Auburn 12-2 and the second to Enterprise 14-2. The Times-Journal was unable to contact the coach for comment.