The 9U team, consisting of Tyler Dean (Vinton), Kyle Arnholt (Botetourt), Derek Burton (Vinton), Isaac Fix (Vinton), Connor Fuhrman (Botetourt), Dylan Hatfield (Vinton), Seth Hodges (Vinton), Zian Honaker (Salem), Tyler Martin (Vinton), Cory Sigmon (North Roanoke) and Tucker Toman (Lynchburg) went 7-1 for the tournament and won on strong pitching and a consistent offensive attack. After the Dekalb Royals (out of Decatur, Ga.) beat the 9U squad earlier in the day 7-5, the 9U team battled back out of the loser’s bracket and defeated the Royals twice, to earn the 9U World Series Championship. In the win-or-go-home first game of the 9u championship, Team VA defeated Decatur 13-8 on strong pitching from both Dean and Sigmon. The 9u team continued their weeklong strong offensive attack and started the game with a triple from Sigmon, followed by a single from Fuhrman, and a triple from Dean. After three quick runs, one more run was added with singles from both Martin and Hatfield. This pushed the score to 4-0 after one inning of play. Team VA continued their offensive onslaught and went on to win the game 13-8.

At 12:15 Monday morning, after the final game of the championship series was delayed by lightning on two separate occasions, Team VA came away victorious with the 9U World Series Championship. Dean was named 9u tournament MVP, and Toman was named 9u defensive MVP.

– Submitted by Chuck Spraker