Teams from Cartersville Little League and Bartow County Little League open state tourneys Saturday
There is plenty of excitement in the air as Little League district championship teams from across the state open play this weekend and the two local Little League programs will be well represented. Various Georgia Little League softball and baseball age groups begin play Saturday in Columbus, Marietta, and right here in Bartow County.
The 2016 Georgia Little League state tournament for 9-10 year olds opens play Saturday at East Marietta Little League and Sewell Park in Marietta.
District 1 champ, Cartersville Little League, will take on Northern Little League at 1pm on Field 1. Northern is the District 8 champion from Columbus. Other opening round matchups Saturday in the 9-10 year old division include Smyrna Little League against Peachtree City American Little League; Habersham County Little League takes on Oconee County Little League; and Chatham County Little League plays Washington Wilkes Little League. Belvedere Little League and Warner Robins American Little League drew opening round byes in the double-elimination format tournament that continues through July 16.
Cartersville Little League will also represent District 1 in the Georgia 10-11 year old state Little League tournament.
The 10-11 year old tournament begins Saturday at Sally Little League in Columbus and will continue through Friday, July 15.
Cartersville’s 10-11 year old team is scheduled to play Northern Little League of Columbus, Saturday at 11am in the state tournament opener for both teams. Two other first round games Saturday include Dudley Little League against Hart County Little League and Smyrna Little League against Athens Little League. The seventh team in the field, West Point Little League, received an opening round bye in the double-elimination tournament and will play its first game on Sunday. Bartow County Little League and Hamilton Crossing Park in Cassville will host a pair of Georgia Little League softball state tournaments that also begin Saturday.
The 8-10 year old softball state tournament does not feature a local team, but will run Saturday through Wednesday at Hamilton Crossing Park. District champions West Point Little League, Western Little League, Pioneer Little League, Elbert County Little League, and the District 7 champions to be determined will battle on Field 8 at Hamilton Crossing for a state title.
The 8-10 year old tournament will conclude Wednesday, July 13.
In addition at the Bartow County site, four 15-16 year old teams will battle for the 2016 Georgia State Senior Little League championship on Field 5. The host team, Bartow County Little League, faces Northern Little League of Columbus on Saturday at 3pm. That game will be preceded by a matchup between West Point Little League and Madison County Little League. The double-elimination tournament continues through Tuesday, July 12. The Bartow County Senior Little League softball team roster includes: Sara Fox, Taylor Queen, Hope Elrod, Sierrah Gani, Loren Harris, Madison Harrison, Alexia Najarro, Makenzi McIntyre, Morgan Deboard, Maggie Collum, Sarah Moore, Emily Collum, and Haven Isaac.
Other age groups will begin their state tournaments later this month.
The 11-12 year old softball state tournament begins July 16 and will also be hosted by Bartow County Little League at Hamilton Crossing Park. Bartow County will represent District 1 in the state tournament.
The 11-12 year old baseball state tournament begins play July 23 at Peachtree City Little League. Cartersville Little League will be the District 1 representative. They will face Warner Robins in the first game of the tournament on Saturday, July 23 at 11am. The Cartersville 11-12 A-team consists of Elliott Eastin, Blake Sutton, Drew Rothschild, Jimbo Gaines, Banks Wilson, Colin Eaton, Jake Lawson, Ernie Cortes, Phillip Schiltz, and Jacob Evans. The manager is Freddie Eaton and coaches include Darren Wilson, Jarrett Eastin, and Austin Phillips. The 11-12 year old Cartersville B-team won the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association District 5 championship June 28. They completed the double-elimination tournament with a perfect 4-0 mark.
Cartersville defeated Harlson County by a score of 12-8 in the opening round and took care of Calhoun 10-3 in round 2. A 9-4 win over Milford advanced the locals to the championship game where Cartersville once again topped Calhoun, 4-3.
The GRPA district title earned Cartersville a spot in the GRPA state tournament in Savannah, July 12-16.
The Cartersville 11-12 year old B-all-star team includes Jack Chatman, Hunter Cochran, Jonah Cooper, Noah Ford, Gunner Millsap, JaKiyon Porter, Jackson Rutledge, Evan Sanders, Kaden Stephenson, Brody Tidwell, Giles Turner and Tanner Wall. They are coached by Jamie Cooper, Stephen Chatman, Adam Turner and Kevin Stephenson.
