Surry All-Stars win 10U State Championship

BLACK MOUNTAIN — The Surry County 10U All-Star Baseball team captured the Cal Ripken Western NC State Championship on June 29.

Surry went 6-0 in the state tournament, which was held June 26-29 at Black Mountain Veterans Park, and outscored opponents 79-20 in the process.

The Surry All-Stars are coached by Matt Swift, Ted Creed, Jonathan Wilmoth and Corey Carson. Team members include: Bentley Carson, Bentley Browder, Colton Chilton, Gavin Norman, Grady Swift, Tucker Creed, Rush Wilmoth, Boone Bobbitt, Riggs Key, Tayden Shreeve, Zayden Carson, Shepp Draughn and Davyn Honeycutt.

Twenty teams across Western NC qualified for the state tournament. Teams were placed into five pools of four teams each, and the two teams with the best records in each pool advanced to the championship bracket.

Surry was part of the South Division alongside Matthews, Charles D. Owens and Madison County.

Surry County opened the tournament with two lopsided victories on June 26: 19-0 vs. Charles D. Owens, and 19-4 vs. Madison. The boys from Surry County tied for the second-highest single-game run total at states, and their 19-0 win vs. Owen was the largest margin of victory in the tournament.

Surry wrapped up pool play on June 27 with an 11-0 victory against Matthews.

The winners of each pool were awarded a top five seed for the championship bracket, while each pool’s runner-up earned a 6-10 seed. Individual seeds were decided first by record, then by total runs allowed and finally, if needed, run differential.

South Park earned the top seed by posting a 3-0 record in pool play while allowing just one run; South Park won its three pool games by scores of 10-0, 12-1 and 9-0. Surry took the No. 2 spot with a 3-0 record and four runs allowed.

Surry earned a first-round bye. No. 10 UC Indian Trail defeated China Grove 10-6 in the opening round, then Surry defeated UC Indian Trail 9-8 in the quarterfinals. No. 3 UC Waxhaw topped Hominy Valley 9-6 in another quarterfinal to set up a semifinal matchup against Surry County.

Surry advanced to the championship game by defeating UC Waxhaw 11-1; Waxhaw had only given up 11 total runs across its first four tournament games.

Top-seeded South Park ran through the other half of the bracket by earning a first-round bye, defeating No. 9 Davidson County 15-0 in the quarterfinals then beating No. 5 Sandhills 9-5 in the semifinals.

Surry captured the state title by taking down South Park 10-7 in the championship. Entering the championship game, South Park had only given up six total runs while scoring 55.

Surry County will represent North Carolina at the regional championship tournament beginning July 16 in Alexandria, Va. Regional winners will advance to the 10U World Series scheduled for August 8 in Crown Point, Ind.