Staff Report
This summer, a special group of boys from the FishHawk community had quite an experience representing FishHawk Youth Baseball as the FishHawk 8 and Under All Stars Navy. It was a rough start at the beginning of their season. Their first tournament was at Eagle Lake and the team opened up 1-2 with losses to S. Lakeland and Ridge Dundee with the only win coming over Manatee. Coach, Michael Byrd said, “We were a little concerned coming out of that first tournament. We had no idea how tough the teams were and we got roughed up a bit.”
The next tournament for the FishHawk 8U All Stars Navy was the Lakeland Highlands Invitational. The boys came out of the dugout with a vengeance and beat Plant City, Eagle Lake’s Tournament Champions. That win set the stage for the rest of the season.
The FishHawk 8U All Stars Navy came out of the gates strong and never looked back winning 15-6, moving them to the final four in the State Tournament and securing their spot in the Southeast Regional Championship in Varina, VA. Their game against Okeeheelee was an incredible game and a huge win for the program. That made them the second team ever to qualify for a Regional Tournament in FishHawk’s history.” FishHawk 8U All Stars fell the next day to Julington Creek and ended up securing third place in the State.
The final step for the FishHawk 8U All Stars was the Southeast Regional Tournament in Varina, VA (just outside Richmond). This tournament put together the 20 best teams from the Southeast. FishHawk opened up with a big win against the Western North Carolina Champion, Indian Trails. The boys maintained that momentum with additional wins over New Bern, NC, Arlington, VA and Varina, VA. By going 4-0, FishHawk won their pool and qualified for the Elite 8 Single Elimination Tournament. In the opening game, the FishHawk 8U All Stars ran into Longwood, FL and fell finishing their All Star journey.
“We knew Longwood was tough and it was just their day.” This group of boys had an incredible run over the summer finishing 18-5 in tournament play and finishing fifth. For more information, visit http://fishhawkyouthbaseball.org.
