Albany expected to host pool play for All-Stars
Little League All-Star action is about to be in full swing with Albany fielding teams in two divisions.
The 8U select team also hosted one of four playoff brackets, as well as the finals, during the last week, with the Albany team making it to the final four.
Both the 10U and 12U All-Stars are set to start pool play on Saturday, most likely in games hosted locally, although the details of the pool games were not due to be set until Wednesday after the deadline for this edition of the News.
“We are expecting to host some of the rounds of the pool play here in Albany again this season,” 12U coach John Tom Heatly said Tuesday. “We won’t know for sure which teams will be playing where or when until the meeting Wednesday evening in Abilene.”
Albany hosted several pools game last year, along with some of the bracket games, for the District 5 tournament.
Pool games will be played at several locations in Abilene, along with the local Little League Ball Park, to determine seeding for the bracket portion of the tournament expected to start on June 22.
Also helping coach the 12U All-Stars this season are John Peterson and David Fairchild.
Clint Chapman is heading up the coaching duties for the 10U team, assisted by Tony Wheeler.
Albany hosted four area teams in one of four 8U Machine Pitch tournaments held last Saturday.
The local team won that bracket, then hosted the final four teams on Monday for the championship.
Albany won three of four bracket games to advance to the finals, but lost to Abilene Northern 2 12-13 in the semifinal game.
Abilene went on to lose to Wylie Purple in the championship round.
“The kids did a great job, and I am very proud of them,” coach Kelby Vaughn said. “They really hit the ball well.”
The coach said that the team stepped up for their tournament games.
“It makes a big difference in the level of play when these younger boys are finally matched up with kids their own age rather than being the youngest on an older Minors team,” Vaughn said. “They were really competitive in the tournament.”
The Albany 8U defeated Cisco, 6-5, in the first game on Saturday, followed by a 12-3 win over Clyde. Albany played Clyde again for the championship, but suffered a 13-12 loss in the double elimination tournament.
A tie-breaker was required, with Albany beating Clyde 16-10 in the final game of the local bracket.
Players on the 8U team were Blake Britting, Car-ter Carrion, Tank Johnson, Slayton Parsons, Easton Riley, Ben Russell, Sam Tidwell, Ace Townson, Ace Vickers, and Jakobi Word.
The team was coached by Vaughn, Dustin Parsons, Joe Tidwell, and Roy Russell.
