Windsor 8U All-Stars finish top-two in region

The Windsor 8U All-Star baseball team finished its summer with another reminder that it belongs among the very best area teams in its age division.

At the PONY Pinto South Region Championship in High Point, North Carolina, the Windsor boys played from July 5-7 in a field featuring the top six teams from the area. Windsor finished as runner-up, going 4-1 over the course of the weekend.

“We went out and we played absolutely amazing baseball all weekend, and we just came up short against Suffolk again,” Windsor Head Coach Jonas Bass said.

The South Region tournament began with pool play, with the six-team field being evenly divided into two pools. Windsor emerged as the No. 1 seed after this three-game phase of the tourney was over.

“So we didn’t allow any runs the first three games of pool play, and Suffolk allowed three runs, so that’s why we were seeded No. 1,” Bass said. “We both were 3-0 throughout pool play.”

Windsor’s first game of the tournament was interrupted by rain on Friday, July 5, and was completed on Saturday, July 6. The boys defeated High Point 1 by a score of 15-0. Then they shut out Bethany 11-0 and Huntsville 10-0 later that day.

Windsor faced High Point 1 again in the semifinals on Sunday, July 7, and recorded a 14-2 victory.

Playing in the other semifinal game were Huntsville and the Suffolk Surge, the only team Windsor lost to in the recent PONY Pinto (7U/8U) Northeast Super Section Tournament. Suffolk defeated Huntsville 7-4 to reach the South Region championship game.

In the title game later that day, Suffolk was able to defeat Windsor 5-1.

“Our boys absolutely crushed the baseball the entire weekend,” Bass said. “It’s just whenever it came to the championship game, they got more hits than we did. … And they’re a really good team, obviously, so we just got outplayed.”

Nevertheless, it was a notably successful weekend for Windsor, which finished in the top two of all three tournaments it played in this summer, ending up with a 10-5 overall record.

Bass highlighted four keys to the Windsor All-Stars’ success.

First, he said, “ I would say that every one of the kids on our team has just the desire and the work ethic and the drive. These kids go out and they play four or five games in a weekend, and on Monday afternoon they’re back in their yards playing wiffle ball. It’s nonstop for them. They are constantly wanting to do more. They’re constantly asking their parents to go outside and throw the ball, and that’s the difference.

“And I know for a fact that a few of the kids that were on this team came back Sunday, and then Monday they were at Christopher Newport University going to an all-day baseball camp, so the work ethic is there for these kids,” he added.

Second, he noted that the boys have benefited from consistency at the coaching position, as both he and his assistant coach, Ryan Hewitt, have coached most of them since the boys were 4 years old, playing with the Windsor Athletic Association.

Third, Bass highlighted the boys’ parents.

“Whenever the kids want to go outside and play baseball, they go outside and play baseball with them,” he said.

Fourth, Bass pointed to the community support in the small town of Windsor.

“We drove down to High Point, North Carolina, and we had over 70 people to travel and to watch these kids play baseball,” he said.

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