Mississippi Captures 2010 Dixie Boys Championship

By Staff Report Wednesday, August 04 2010 23:23

CHRISTIANSBURG, VA – Laurel-Jones County, Mississippi captured the 2010 Dixie Boys Championship at Harkrader Sports Complex in Christiansburg, Virginia with a 5-4 victory over Monroe, Louisiana.

Jake Smith singled home Josh Sullivan in the bottom of the sixth inning with the game winning run before Chandler Blakeney, who entered the game in the fifth inning, retired the Louisiana side in order in the seventh to get the victory.

Louisiana took a 1-0 lead in the first when Cade Harper singled home a run. Mississippi answered in the second inning scoring three unearned runs off Louisiana pitcher Chet Daniels, who went the distance in the loss.

Louisiana got a single run in the fourth before tying the score in the fifth on back-to-back home runs from Will Watson and Daniels.

Watson finished the game with two hits, while Mississippi got a pair of hits from Trenton Stringer.

Mississippi also picked up the sportsmanship award as voted on by everyone that had contact with the teams during the tournament through out the community.

Quotes
Note: Eric Surrett was injured with a concussion during the South Carolina game for Mississippi and missed the final two games.

Mississippi Manager Kenneth Seymour

“It is amazing what can be accomplished, when nobody wants the credit. Two gutsy performances on the mound and clutch hits got us this victory and we won this one for Eric Surrett. We came into this tournament saying defense was the way we were going to win and that’s the way we won this game and the tournament.”

Mississippi Left Fielder Jake Smith, who had the game winning hit.

“It was a curve ball that I waited back on and hit it back up the middle. It’s an unbelievable feeling to win, we have been to three World Series and never won, so this feels great – it is a memory that will never go away.”

Louisiana Manager Al Hayward

“That is a great team and we threw everything we had at them. I felt they had one of the best pitching staff in this tournament and I thought our hitting was one of the best and they held us in check. There are 30,000 kids out there that would like to be where we are and I couldn’t be prouder of our team. A 5-4 game in the seventh is a great job by both teams, just one team has got to lose.

On first game

“I think we did a great job keeping our focus and looking past North Carolina after the game yesterday. We did a good job of keeping our composure when they came back in the last inning.