Clanton team advances to Series
Published 5:49 pm Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Moving on up: The Clanton 9-and-under all-star baseball team advanced to the Dizzy Dean World Series. The team includes: (bottom row) Lawson Patterson, Tucker Price, Jacob Marino, Luke Dale, Dalton Patterson, Bryson Mims, (middle row) Harrison Smith, Cade Davidson, Russ Rhodes, Preston Smith, Cameron Baker and (back row) coaches Chris Mims, Jeff Price, Jeremy Smith and Jimbo Patterson.
Clanton’s 9-and-under baseball all-stars fell just short of the state championship—but not the World Series.
The team will advance to Dizzy Dean’s grand stage after finishing second out of 16 teams in the state tournament held in Albertville.
The World Series will begin Thursday in Jackson County, Ga.
Clanton began the state tournament by defeating Jasper, 21-1; East Walker, 9-3; and Corner, 11-1.
In the finals of the winner’s bracket, Clanton fell to Northport, 10-4 after a rain delay.
Clanton played Corner again and won again, 13-3, before facing Northport again, this time losing an 8-7 heartbreaker that decided the state championship.
As reported last week, another local youth baseball team advanced deep into the playoffs.
The North Chilton 8-and-under team went farther in the state tournament than any league 8-and-under team had previously.
The Rebels advanced to the state tournament, which was played in Trussville, by finishing fourth in the area tournament held in Springville.
Making history: The North Chilton 8-and-under team went farther in the state Dizzy Dean youth baseball tournament than any league team in the same age group had ever gone.
