On Monday August 2nd, Spring Hill National will embark on the Dixie Baseball AA Rookies (age 7-8) All-Stars Machine Pitch World Series in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. The local squad comes in off a state championship run last month, going 6-2 at the Max Long Recreational Complex in Sebring. Unlike the district tournament, in which players pitched, SH National has to rely more on its bats and gloves to survive the machine pitch state event.
“In the district tournament, our strong point was our pitching as well as our hitting. Our defense, we knew we needed to improve going into the state tournament,” SH National head coach John McMurdo said. He explained, “Off the machine we knew everyone was going to hit it. We said at the beginning that we thought defense was going to win the tournament.”
On a team that hit a combined .554 and scored 69 runs over the eight state contests, multiple players stepped to the forefront. Jacob Barnum, Travis Clark and Raymond Groetsch were three of the top producers both at the plate and in the field. “They’re pretty much our 2-3-4 hitters. They’ve just been hitting the ball really hard, driving consistent line drives. Bunch of RBIs throughout the state tournament. They just handle the bat really well and that’s why they were where they were in the lineup,” McMurdo said.
On the field they were also strong. McMurdo stated, “Raymond defensively at third base, he saved a bunch of hits for us. Made a lot of catches, line drives that were caught. He was diving all over the field. Jacob at shortstop, he was pretty sure-handed there. And Travis was our left-center fielder most of the time and he was pretty good about getting to the ball and getting it back in.”
Barnum hit .450 at states, with nine hits in 20 at-bats, seven runs scored and eight runs batted in. “I was really nervous at the end. It was really exciting. I felt good. I made a lot of good plays and a lot of hits,” Barnum said.
Clark was second on the team posting a .650 average, notching team highs of seven doubles, an inside-the-park home run and 11 RBl. He tied for the team best in run scored at nine.
“Coach John, he worked us a lot, he helped us. He got our hitting up and our defense up. I hit a couple of shots. I got 11 RBIs. And I had some really good plays in the outfield,” ” Clark said.
Groetsch paced SH National with 14 hits, batting .636 to go with eight runs, two doubles, a triple and five RBI. “I thought our team was really good and every single player on the team has had experiences on defense and hitting. I hit a couple to the outfield and a lot of singles and doubles,” Groetsch stated.
The emphasis will continue to be on hitting and defense as SH National attempts to add a World Series title to its ledger. The task grows tougher, yet the players seem to have similiar expectations. “That were going to win it all,” Clark said. “Hit line drives and be smart baserunners, and get a bunch of outs,” he added.