The Southern Elite 13U baseball team traveled to Dallas, GA June 10-12 to participate in Georgia’s USSSA Open/Major State Championship tournament. The young men of Southern Elite won the tournament and are now Georgia’s USSSA State Champions. For the weekend, SE went 5-1 in the double elimination tournament with notable wins against two highly ranked Major teams. Southern Elite beat the East Cobb Braves (ranked #5) in the Quarter-Finals by a score of 9-7 and then in the Championship Game, run ruled the #1 ranked Major team, the West Georgia Warriors-Meigs, by a final score of 10-2.
For the tournament, Southern Elite outscored their opponents 52-33 and had an average margin of victory of 3.2 runs. Jarrett Dopson led the team in hitting with a .588 batting average with three doubles, a triple, five runs scored and nine RBI. From the leadoff spot, Hayden Weems hit .533 with an On-Base Percentage of .650, with a double, two triples, seven runs scored, three RBI, six walks and six stolen bases. Drew Reich hit .389 with three doubles, five RBI & seven runs scored. Will Berryhill hit .375 with two doubles, two RBI & seven runs scored. Hamp Hayes hit .375 with two doubles, six RBI and four runs scored. Hayden Murphy hit .368 with three doubles, three RBI and five runs scored. Trey Wright hit .357 with a double, six RBI and five runs scored.
On the mound, Jarrett Dopson appeared in three games pitching a total of seven innings, but saved his best for last. In the Championship game, Dopson went the full 5 innings against the state’s #1 ranked Major team and only gave up two 1st inning unearned runs. In the complete game victory, Dopson recorded four strikeouts, with two walks and four hits allowed. For the weekend, Dopson held opposing batters to a .160 batting average with a 0.857 WHIP. Other top pitching performances were turned in by Austin Fuller who threw three no-hit innings while recording three strikeouts with no walks. Smith Pinson who threw a total of eight innings holding opposing hitters to a .200 batting average and Ty Taylor who held opposing hitters to a .167 batting average with a 1.00 WHIP over three innings of solid work.
Earlier this spring, Southern Elite won the Perfect Game 13U Invitational Tournament in Lakepoint, GA and the April Showers tournament in Statesboro, GA. With two remaining tournaments on their spring schedule, Southern Elite currently has a 21-4-1 record.
– Submitted