Franklinton National is district tourney champion
Published 9:34 am Friday, July 17, 2015
By Chris Kinkaid
THE DAILY NEWS
Franklinton National Dixie Youth Baseball 11-12-year-old baseball team was victorious in the District VI Tournament that took place July 3 through 8 at the Franklinton Dixie Baseball Fields.
The team entered last Wednesday’s play already having a loss in the double-elimination tournament. Franklinton National was facing Franklinton American, which was undefeated in the tournament to that point. That meant Franklinton National needed to win twice to capture the event while Franklinton American had to win one of the two contests.
Franklinton National, which won five of its six games in the tournament, was up to the task and won both games to take home the title by scores of 3-2 and 12-4, respectively.
“To come in with everybody pegging us as the underdogs, it was probably surprising to the fans and the kids that we were able to win the tournament. It’s probably a good motivator for us going into this tournament (South Regional), knowing that we beat a good team like the other Franklinton team,” Franklinton National coach Chad Dillon said.
Dillon said the key to winning was that they had good pitching, good defense and good hitting.
“It all came together that night,” Dillon said. “We’ve been talking to the kids about staying positive and it showed in their play.”
Franklinton National’s Baylon Sigler pitched a complete game to help his team capture the victory in the first game Wednesday. The win pushed the tournament to one more contest with the winner being the tournament champion.
Franklinton National had three pitchers in the second contest, including Rece Dillon, Devin Whaley and Matthew Bienvenu.
The top two teams from this tournament, which had six teams, advance to the regionals. Franklinton National is heading to the South Regional in Ponchatoula while Franklinton American goes to the North Regional in Winnsboro, La.
The regional winners play against each other in a best-of-three series at the state tournament.
Dillon gave his thoughts on the upcoming tournament.
“I think we’ve got a good enough team to go there and pull out some victories,” Dillon said. “I’ve never been to a regional, and this will be a lot of the kids’ first time going to a regional.”