STARKVILLE — Defense is pivotal to a championship run, and Starkville 11-year-old All-Star baseball coach Steve Wylie thinks his team is primed to make a serious run at a title.
Beginning Thursday at the Dizzy Dean state tournament in Louisville, the Starkville All-Stars will rely on a speedy outfield and experienced infield depth to navigate a tough tournament field.
The outfield trio of Reagan Richardson in center field, Pitcher Rendon in left field, and Brady Hunt in right field gives the team an element it didn”t have a year ago, Wylie said.
“It”s the biggest difference in the team,” he said. “Each one of them is fast and can judge the ball off the bat really well. We”ve (also) got two or three different players at each position in the infield. If someone”s struggling, we can make a switch.”
Wylie said the team will rely on the leadership of pitcher Austin Campbell.
The team is coming off back-to-back tournaments against 12-year-old competition, including four games last week in Louisville.
While the results weren”t favorable, Wylie said his players weren”t affected by the scores.
“We explained to them it”s just gonna make them better,” Wylie said. “We were working on certain parts of our game and it”s good we got to do that. We played four ballgames before got put out, so we”re looking forward to this weekend.”
The team will play Louisville at 2 p.m. Thursday. Win or lose, it will play again at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Starkville played a practice game against Ackerman on Monday and won 23-4.
Other team members include Natrone Brooks, Ethan Evans, Brandon Gilliland, Carlos Kemp, Brady Richardson, Noah Smith, Jacob Williams, and Austin Wylie
Seven-year-old team looking to return to form
If Starkville”s 7-year-old All-Stars can shake off a rough tournament outing in Louisville, they have a shot at a trophy.
Coach Jonathan Upchurch has seen the best and worst from his team in the last two weeks after a second-place finish in a tournament at Mississippi State was followed by a 180 last week in Louisville.
“We still got a lot of positive things going for us,” Upchurch said. “We”ve got some kids that played coach-pitch as 5-year-olds. We”ve got some really talented kids. If they play to their potential, we have a very good chance of winning state.”
Upchurch said Louisville, which beat Starkville at MSU, is the favorite.
“We just didn”t score the last two innings of that game, and that put us in a rut,” he said.
Starkville is led by shortstop/pitcher Koby Livingston, first baseman John Paul Yates, shortstop/pitcher Randall Futral, and outfielder Chipper Hornburger, who Upchurch said is one of the team”s fastest players.
Other team members are Will McReynolds, Harris McReynolds, Jamario Moss, Bailey Bostick, Karsten Upchurch, Brody Bennett, Drew Williams, and Will Wells.
Assistant coaches are Tom McReynolds, DJ Kent, and Jason Williams.
Starkville will play East Central at 5:45 p.m. Thursday. Starkville defeated East Central 21-0 earlier this season.
Nine-year-old team takes different approach
The Starkville 9-year-old All-Stars have taken a fundamental approach to preparing for the Dizzy Dean state tournament in Eupora.
Instead of playing in tournaments, Starkville has used its practice time to work on fielding and hitting.
The idea is to keep players fresh and to put them through more game-like situations they won”t encounter in time-limited tournament games.
“There”s only four or five kids who are new to All-Stars, so the majority of them already have that tournament experience,” coach Randy Carlisle said. “We really didn”t want to turn this into a traveling team. We slowed it down, and our kids understand the game a lot better than the day they got here. Tonight, we”re video taping with high speed cameras to show our kids their improvement.”
Starkville will play Louisville at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Carlisle said pitching, led by Garrett Lewis, John Thomas Cox, Izak Hanson, and Zach Kelly, will be at a premium.
“It”s a huge deal because a lot of catchers aren”t fully developed at this level,” Carlisle said. “You just can”t walk people when you get to this point. Luckily, our catcher (Braden Carlisle) caught 11 games straight games for us in the state tournament last year and has the experience.”
Team members are Tanner Graves, Jalen Bell, Wes Pruitt, John Spearman, Evan Cook, David Coblentz, and Ben Brown.
Coaches are Carlisle, John Cox, Larry Hanson, and Jim Brown.
Thursday”s Schedule
11-Year-Old tournament
At Louisville
Starkville vs. Tupelo, 2 p.m. (Field 4)
Starkville-Tupelo winner vs. Houston, 6 p.m. (Field 4)
Starkville-Tupelo loser vs. Ackerman-Saltillo loser, 6 p.m. (Field 3)
9-Year-Old tournament
At Eupora
Saltillo vs. Columbus, 10 a.m.
Starkville vs. Louisville, 1 p.m.
Saltillo-Columbus winner vs. Tupelo, 5 p.m.
7-Year-Old tournament
At Louisville
Columbus American vs. Grenada Rec., 4:30 p.m. (Field 1)
Columbus National vs. Ackerman, 4:30 p.m. (Field 2)
Starkville vs. East Central, 5:45 p.m. (Field 2)
Columbus American-Grenada Rec. winner vs. Saltillo, 7 p.m. (Field 1)
Columbus National-Ackerman winner vs. Louisville, 7 p.m. (Field 2)
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