| |||
|---|---|---|---|
Baseball | |||
Age | League | State tourney, | |
group | start date | ||
9-10 | Clayton Hardscrabble | Tallmadge, July 30 | |
10-11 | Washington Court House | Hamilton, July 30 | |
11-12 | Eaton | Englewood, Saturday | |
13-14 | Clayton Hardscrabble | North Canton, Saturday | |
15-16 | Moraine-West Carrollton | McDermott, Saturday | |
17-18 | Moraine-West Carrollton | Eliminated from state | |
Softball | |||
9-10 | Englewood | Portsmouth July 31 | |
11-12 | Xenia | Eliminated from state | |
When a player on the Clayton Hardscrabble Little League team makes a mistake, tears sometime flow.
But coach Brandon Graveline has a solution for that.
“If anyone cries or gets upset, we all shout ‘team,’ ” he said. “We do that if anyone strikes out or makes an error. It snaps them out of it. We’re not into individual goals. We’re looking at team goals.”
The Clayton 9-10-year-old squad certainly knocked off one gargantuan team objective by winning the District 8 tournament Monday to advance to state competition for the first time in its history next week in Tallmadge.
The road to the title wasn’t easy. After losing to Englewood in the double-elimination event, Clayton avenged that defeat and pounded Olentangy, 12-2, in the final.
The Clayton team is made up of all-stars from its four-team Hardscrabble league. The Olentangy all-stars had a much bigger pool of potential talent, with 21 teams in its league.
“I’ve got ballplayers,” Graveline said. “They strive to win. They keep asking me if I’m ready. They say, ‘You ready for this?’ They’re ballers. They’re buying what I’m selling.”
Carter Pickens is the team’s top pitcher, while Ben Brophy leads the offensive attack.
District 8 encompasses the Miami Valley and covers 14 counties. Its winners in each boys and girls age group earn state tournament berths.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris @DaytonDailyNews.com.
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