Franklin County fared well in Dixie Youth 1st Place Tournament

Franklin County Warriors 1st Place AA Division Champs

photo from Karen Harris Facebook Page

Three teams from the Franklin County Dixie Youth Baseball League competed this past weekend in the 2015 Florida Dixie Youth Baseball District 4 - First Place Tournament held at the Benny Roberts Sports Complex in Port St. Joe.

All three teams earned the right to participate in the tournament where they faced off against teams from Blountstown, Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka after first winning their local league divisions, AA, AAA and Ozone during the regular season.

AA DIVISION

In the AA division the Franklin County Warriors led by Head Coach David Paul, assisted by Jody Martina, Brad Blackburn and Will Luberto wrapped up an impressive regular season with 14 wins and 1 loss, which earned them their spot in the first place tournament in Port St. Joe.

During the tournament the Warriors went undefeated to capture and bring home the 2015 Florida Dixie Youth Baseball District 4 – AA Division First Place Championship title after twice beating Blountstown. The team played and defeated Blountstown AA Division in both Saturday and Sunday’s competition in identical 11-10 squeakers.

In Sunday’s contest the Warriors were down 9-10 in the bottom of the 5th when Joel Taylor hit a double, followed by a single from Micah Harris to drive Taylor home tying the game 10-10. The next at bat was Peyton Blackburn; Harris stole second and then third.  Once in scoring position on third Blackburn drove Harris home to score the go ahead run to win the game and secure the division title.

Franklin County Bombers Runner Ups AAA Division
photo from Laurie Varnes Facebook Page

AAA DIVISION

In AAA division play the Franklin County Bombers were led by Head Coach Ricky Abercrombie with help from Bobby Varnes, Timmy Poloronis and Eddie Moses, Jr., to a 15 win, 1 loss regular season finish to earn their berth in the first place tournament. However, the Bombers didn’t fare as well during the tournament, but still managed to capture and bring home second place honors in AAA division play.

On Saturday morning the team fell short during the competition recording a 6-9 loss against Blountstown, but quickly bounced back to defeat Wewahitchka 19-4 during the evening game on Saturday and Port St. Joe 15-3 Sunday night.

The Bombers were lifted to victory in the Port St. Joe game on the pitching arm of Will Varnes, who struck out 18 batters and gave up only three hits. Varnes added to the melee against Port St. Joe an over the fence homer that drove in two runs. The team made it to Monday night’s championship game where they suffered a 6-12 loss to Blountstown.

Franklin County Giants 1st Place Ozone Division Champs

photo from Direek Farmer's Facebook Page 

OZONE DIVISION

In Ozone division play the Franklin County Giants were led by Head Coach Bert Davis and assisted by Scott Abel and Direek Farmer. The team posted 9 regular season wins and 5 losses during a very competitive season to earn their trip to the first place tournament. Once there the Giants showed no mercy, going undefeated and beating Wewahitchka in game one Saturday morning on a homerun hit by Joshua Farmer.

In Saturday’s evening game against Blountstown, the Giants ace pitcher Tanner Amison pitched a no-hitter while facing 9 batters and recording 7 strikeouts and 1 walk. Amison quickly picked off the runner in his lead off attempt to steal second base enroute to a 15-0 win in which the mercy rule had to be invoked.

The Giants faced Wewahitchka once more in the championship game Saturday night and defeated them to take home the 2015 Florida Dixie Youth Baseball District 4 – Ozone Division First Place Championship title.