ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Surry County 10U All-Star Baseball team wrapped up a historic season on July 21.
Just three weeks after winning the Western North Carolina State Championship, the Surry All-Stars traveled just outside the nation’s capital to compete for a spot in the 10U World Series. Surry made it through the group round to reach the Babe Ruth League Southeast Regional Semifinals before falling to the eventual champions.
“This group of guys represented all that Surry County is about: hard work, family, mental and physical toughness,” said Surry head coach Matt Swift. “They are brothers on and off the field, and they exemplify that in their attitude and effort. They never quit. They expect to win and losing hurt.”
The Surry All-Stars are coached by 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, Shep Draughn and Davyn Honeycutt.
“As coach, there’s not 13 other guys I would rather have,” Swift said. “We truly had the best 10-year-olds in the county on one team. This class is athlete-heavy in Surry County, and this will not be the last you hear from this group. The scary part — half of these boys were 9U kids playing in a 10U tournament.
“I have been blessed to be a part of their lives for the last two years. I’m truly thankful to them and their families for allowing me and my assistants the opportunity to be a part of their journey and for putting their trust in me.”
Surry was one of eight teams to compete in the Southeast Regional Tournament. They qualified for regionals by outlasting 19 other squads to win the Western North Carolina 10U State Championship on June 29.
The eight regional tournament-qualifying teams were sorted into two pools of four teams each. Each team played three pool games, and the top-2 finishers in each pool advanced to the championship bracket. If two teams posted identical records in pool play the deciding factor was runs allowed.
Surry was paired up with Bartow (Florida), New Bern (North Carolina) and Williamsburg (Virginia) in the American League pool, while the National League pool consisted of Arlington (Virginia), Gainesville (Florida), Pioneer (Virginia) and Northview (North Carolina).
The tournament opened on July 17 with Surry taking a tough 11-0 loss to Bartow, who went on to finish regional runner-up. Surry County rebounded the following day by defeating Eastern North Carolina State Champion New Bern 15-5; the team’s total of 15 runs scored was the second highest in a single game in the entire 10U tournament.
A loss from Bartow vs. Williamsburg on July 18 helped Surry’s chances as all four teams in the pool moved to 1-1. Surry secured its spot in the championship bracket by defeating Williamsburg 5-3, while Bartow topped New Bern 17-1.
Bartow and Surry each had 2-1 records in pool play, but Bartow only allowed five runs to Surry’s 19.
Bartow, the No. 1 seed from the American League, was matched up against Gainesville, the No. 2 seed from the National League, in one regional semifinal. The other semifinal game featured National League No. 1 seed Arlington and American League No. 2 seed Surry County.
The No. 1 seeds each won their semifinal matches by one-run margins; Arlington won 5-4, and Bartow won 7-6. Arlington went on to win the 10U Southeast Regional Championship by topping Bartow 4-3.
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