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10-year-olds gear up for World Series
SIKESTON - Sikeston's little league baseball program has put out some top-
notch all-star teams in year's past.
Every year it seems different age groups are competing for state championships and even World Series appearances.
But with all of Sikeston's impressive tradition, there may not be a more dominating team than this year's 10-year-old all-star squad.
The team, coached by Brian Harper, Rod Anderson and Rick Landers, has qualified for the Cal Ripken World Series in Russellville (Ark.) where they will play the host team at 8 p.m. on Aug. 5.
But it's the way they qualified that is the most impressive thing.
In 12 games -- district, state and regional tournaments combined -- Sikeston has outscored its opponents 183-9. They didn't allow a single run in the district or regional tournaments.
Every single game has been stopped by the 10-run mercy rule except for one.
And the scariest thing about it? Harper says the team's best baseball may be coming.
"I don't know if it's our best baseball but it's pretty close," said Harper. "I think the kids are starting to believe in themselves. Success builds success and we're getting used to winning. Learning how to win is the hardest part of winning and I think we're getting there. I'd like to play some closer games to be challenged a little more. We don't know how good we really are yet because we really haven't been challenged. I think once we get challenged and we overcome that, then we'll be playing our best ball."
Sikeston's journey began with four straight blowouts in the district tournament held in Sikeston, beating Caruthersville 19-0, New Madrid 29-0, Sikeston 9-year-olds 19-0 and Kennett 10-0.
Then they were off to the state tournament in Boonville where their dominance continued with a 17-2 win against Macon, 10-0 against Mineral Area, 15-5 against Boonville and then 8-2 against Mineral Area for the state title.
The last game against Mineral Area is the only game to go the full six innings.
Next the team traveled to Baxter (Minn.) in the Midwest Plains Regional. And just like before, Sikeston rolled: 14-0 over Waite Park (Minn.), 20-0 over Dickinson (N.D.), 12-0 over Baxter (Minn.) and then 10-0 for the championship against Baxter once again.
The team has batted over .500 in all three tournaments combined and they've played stellar defense along with outstanding pitching.
So how is the team winning so easily?
"Everybody wants to talk about our hitting but I like to look at our defense," said Harper. "With the amount of runs we've given up, we're playing pretty strong defense. Our pitching's been good, but they also haven't been striking everybody out. People have put the ball in play and our defense so far has made almost every play possible. I think we have like two or three errors in 12 games. That's almost unheard of for a 10-year-old group.
"They're a pretty physically talented group. One of the things the other teams kept talking about was the size, speed and arm strength of our kids. We were doing things that none of the other teams in the regional were doing."
The team is comprised of 12 players: Caleb McCord, Tyler Anderson, Drew Harper, Connor Landers, Cord Sheehy, Brandon Goodwin, Taylor Scott, Lucas Houchin, Tyler Neal, Josh Hampton, Trey Tigart and Zach Shaw. All the players are Sikeston residents except for McCord, who is from Parma.
Harper and Anderson started this exact same group of boys as 6-year-olds and nine still remain from that team.
Having the group together now for five years gives the team a unique advantage over other all-star teams that might be together for one season only.
"The team has been together, they're battle-tested and they've played with each other for a long time," said Harper. "In Cal Ripken baseball, a lot of teams don't have that. A lot of all-star teams have been thrown together and most of our boys have been together since they were 6-years-old."
As 8-year-olds, the group finished fourth in the nation. So playing in big games is nothing new to these youngsters.
Harper said the team won the 10-and-under district championship last year as 9-year-olds, which had never been done before, at least in Sikeston. They carried that momentum to a second place finish in the state tournament.
"That was kind of unprecedented for 9-year-olds to do against 10-year-
olds," said Harper. "So in the state tournament this year I felt we had a very good chance of winning state. Going into regionals I didn't know what to expect because we had never been to that level. After we got there I thought we could win but I had no idea we would dominate like we did -- I mean we scored 56 runs and gave up none. The boys really played well and were real focused."
Now with the World Series on the horizon, Harper is hoping his team can keep the momentum going.
"Going to the World Series is like going to the regionals -- I have a lot of faith in our team, but there's going to be some other good teams there," said Harper. "All eight of the teams there won a region like ours. I think we belong and we deserve to be there. I think we can win some games but we're going to have to play well. Right now I like our chances."
Baseball interest in Sikeston may be at an all-time high and Harper says that has helped offset some of the financial burden of fielding a team.
"I think Sikeston as a whole has a pretty proud tradition in baseball," said Harper. "There's a lot of dads and families that really puts their heart and soul into it for about four months. We have good support from the community, we've got different businesses that have donated money. Little league sells signs and other things to get travel money. Sikeston's a good baseball town and that's well-known around the state. When you go to the Cal Ripken Tournament, Sikeston's one of the top programs in it and we're expected to win."
Harper says Cal Ripken baseball is renting a bus for the team, which will be leaving from the Sikeston Field House on Aug. 3 at 4 p.m. with a police escort.
Pictured members of the Sikeston 10-year-old all-star team are, pictured front row left to right: Taylor Scott, Caleb McCord, Josh Hampton, Brandon Goodwin and Drew Harper. Back row, Cord Sheehy, Tyler Anderson, Connor Landers, Lucas Houchin, Trey Tigart and Tyler Neal.