Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon All-Stars headed to state

Two All-Star teams from the Gurdon Baseball Association will be competing in the state Dixie League tournament on July 13.

According to Elaine Halliday, president of the association, both teams have played very well throughout the entire season.

The nine through 10 year olds won the Small Town Dixie AAA State Championship for the second consecutive year recently. Team members include Malik Dickens, David Sims, Dewayne Marlow, Ty Jones, Eric Redfearn, Hunter Rowe, Jordan Sanford, Brandon Beals, Jackson Kirkpatrick, Cameron Mayhue, Baylee Hughes and Fischer Smith.

The nine through 10 year old team beat Diamond Lakes North in the championship game 10-1, Halliday said.

Outstanding pitching noted by Halliday includes that by Jackson Kirkpatrick, Baylee Hughes, Fischer Smith, and Eric Redfearn. She said outstanding hitting was done by the entire team, including home runs by Ty Jones and Dewayne Marlow.

The teams manager is Robbie Smith and coaches are Kenny Hughes and Mark Sanford.

The team advances to the overall state Dixie tournament on July 13 in Texarkana .

The 11-12 year olds were runners-up in the Small Town Dixie Majors Championship recently. However, as runner-up, the team advances to the overall state Dixie tournament on July 13 in Searcy.

Although the Gurdon team lost its first game, Halliday said it fought back to advance to the finals. The highlight was a dramatic 8-7 win over previously unbeaten Dierks in the semi-final game.

Tyler Burns was the winning pitcher of that game with Austen Halliday getting the save putting Gurdon in the final game.

Dierks defeated Diamond Lakes to reach the finals against Gurdon and defeated the Gurdon All Stars 10-3, Halliday said.

Members of the 11-12 year old team include Tyler Burns, Kade Williams, Jeremy Hendrix, Taylor Shonts, Logan Britt, CJ Farris, Seth Shaver, Nick Smith, Dustin Simpson, Aaron Taylor, Austin Kirkpatrick, and Austen Halliday. The teams manager is Jason Burns and coaches are Paul Williams and Jim Farris.