The Dillon Kiwanis All Stars faced some tough competition this weekend in the opening rounds of the 2014 Dixie Youth Majors World Series in Lexington, South Carolina.
The baseball tournament began with opening ceremonies on Friday night at Carolina Stadium. Lexington is playing host to the Dixie Youth Majors, ‘O’ Zone, and AAA, World Series games, and all teams attended the opening ceremonies.
Saturday was the first day of baseball action, with the Dillon All Stars facing Ville Platte, Louisiana for a 3-2 win.
Dillon’s Tristian Brigman started on the mound, giving up three hits in three innings with one run scored on an error. Louisiana reached on an error and the next batter doubled to knock him in. Dillon also got their first run on a shortstop error, scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning.
With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the third, Dillon’s Noah Carter walked, and Brigman hit a home run to put Dillon ahead 3-2. John Rourke took over pitching duties in the bottom of the inning, and struck out 12 batters in a row to secure the win for the Dillon All Stars.
The last time Dillon and Louisiana faced each other in the World Series was in 1995, when they also scored a 3-2 win.
In Saturday’s other games, South Lake, Florida, opened the day with a 13-2 win over host Gilbert, SC, while West Robeson, North Carolina, shut out Troup County National, Georgia, 10-0. Columbia, Mississippi, defeated Headland, Alabama, 12-1; Colonial Heights, Virginia, edged Fayette County, Tennessee, 5-4; and Athens, Texas, defeated Sevier County, Arkansas, 12-1.
On Sunday, Dillon ran afoul of a Florida buzzsaw, falling 16-0 to South Lake. Every Florida player hit, with South Lake scoring seven runs in the first and nine in the second. The game was run ruled in the third inning.
Barnes Causey got the only hit for Dillon, beating out an infield hit to reach base.
In Sunday’s other games, Troup County National, GA, eliminated Arkansas 19-4; Ville Platte, LA, knocked off Gilbert 25-5; and Headland, AL, shut out Tennessee 10-0. In the winners bracket games, West Robeson, NC, defeated Athens, TX, 4-1, and Mississippi was scheduled to face Virginia.
Dillon has only had two hits so far in the World Series, but the team had a good meeting on Monday morning, according to Lonnie Turner.
Dillon was scheduled to face Headland, AL, in an elimination bracket matchup on Monday night.
UPDATED: Dillon defeated Alabama 6-5 and was scheduled to face Louisiana on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
In the other World Series tournaments in Lexington, South Carolina representative Midland defeated Laurel Jones County, MS, 19-5 and Christianburg, VA, 11-1 to advance undefeated in the ‘O’ Zone World Series, and Delmae, SC, defeated Fairhope, AL, 11-4 in the first round of the AAA World Series. Delmae was scheduled to face Hope Mills, NC, on Sunday evening.
