The 10U Phil Campbell Dixie Youth Baseball Team was the sub-area champion in its division, suffering no defeats in the round robin tournament versus Russellville, Colbert Heights, Central and Muscle Shoals American and advancing to sub-district, where they earned the right to compete in the state tournament. Pictured are (top row) Coach Jason Baker, Coach Richard Habada and Coach Kevin Pace; (second row) Cole Pace, Tillman Baker, Eli Taylor, Kyle Pace, Quentin Hyde and Gage Baker; and (bottom row) Cameron Habada, Hunter Baker, Braxton Seay, Sage Raper, Bryant Hyde and Clay Morgan.

By Kadin Pounders

For the FCT

Dixie Youth all-star games and tournaments have been going on in Franklin County since early- to mid-June and are beginning to near completion as mid-July is closing in fast.

Russellville and Phil Campbell both fielded competitive 10U and 12U all-stars squads that advanced beyond the first rounds of tournament play.

The Phil Campbell 10U and 12U teams will continue to compete and have an opportunity to win the state tournament.

As for the Phil Campbell 10U team, they will automatically advance to the state tournament. It took all three games to vanquish Rogersville, but the Bobcats did it and will be in Decatur for the state tournament starting July 18. Coach Kevin Pace said he was proud of the team’s accomplishment.

The Phil Campbell 12U team almost went undefeated in sub-district play. The Bobcats trounced Brooks 13-3, beat Underwood 2-0, and smashed Haleyville 9-1 before Underwood came out of the loser’s bracket and beat Phil Campbell 6-2. However, the Bobcats would not be denied and snuck past Underwood 4-3 in the sub-district decider.

The Phil Campbell 12U was not so lucky in the district tournament though. In a best of three series, the Bobcats took game one against Tuscumbia 4-2. But Monday night, with an automatic trip to the state tournament on the line, Phil Campbell dropped consecutive games to give Tuscumbia the automatic bid.

“Not the outcome we wanted, but we got beat by a good team,” said head coach Donald Borden. “They’re the type of kids that will bounce back.”

The 12U Bobcats do not get to automatically advance to state but instead will advance to sub-state where the top two teams in that tournament will get another crack at the state tournament.

“We’ve got the pitching and we’ve got the team that I believe could (win sub-state),” said Borden. “We’ve got some good players and we expect to let (teams) know that we’re there.”

The 12U Bobcat all-stars will travel to Priceville for the sub-state tournament that starts July 9.

Both Golden Tiger 10U and 12U teams were eliminated earlier in the season. The Russellville 10U team advanced past sub-area to sub-district before falling to Hamilton 10-2 and then Sulligent 11-10.

The Russellville 12U team also suffered the same fate. Russellville’s 12U all-stars placed second in sub-area to advance them but lost to Hatton 7-5 to place them in the sub-district loser’s bracket. The 12U team fought back winning two games against Rogersville and Moulton before finally being knocked out by the eventual sub-district champion Tuscumbia.

“On behalf of the entire board of Russellville Dixie Youth Baseball, we are very proud of each and every one of the players,” said Russellville Dixie Youth Baseball President Mary Scofield. “They have worked and played extremely hard.”