What a wild run for the 9-year-old Anson All-Stars!  Beginning in the area tournament that was held in Charlotte, this team defeated South Union and Indian Trail to advance to the Western N.C. State Tournament.  This was a major accomplishment itself to advance this far; but little did this team and its following know that there were greater accomplishments ahead.

The state tournament was held in Polkville. Anson's first game against North Piedmont was a hard-fought pitchers duel with Anson winning 2-1, in nine innings.  In game two, Anson led early but ran out of pitching and lost to North Buncombe.  In games three and four, the Anson team rebounded and stomped Davidson County and got by Steward of the Game to complete a 3-1 pool play record that qualified them for the single elimination tournament. 

In that tough tournament, Anson amazingly shelled out a tough Upper Cleveland County team and topped that game by trouncing a Park Sharon team in the semifinals to advance to the Western N.C. State Championship game against Matthews Mara. Unfortunately, Anson lost the title game to an extremely talented Mara team by a score of 3-2. Anson actually led in the game and provided fabulous pitching and timely defense to keep it close.

Although they lost the championship game, Anson qualified for the Southeastern Tournament in Marshall County, Tenn. While in Tennessee, Anson won some individual awards with Blake Nix placing second overall in the "accuracy throw" by throwing a baseball from outfield to home plate and Will Dagenhart winning first place for "Speed Around the Bags" by having the fastest time running the bases.  In the tournament, Anson did not win but played very competitively. At the end of the last game, Coach Dagenhart and team were approached by Nelda Pritchard, Southeastern Tournament director, who personally addressed the team and stated, "Hold your heads high because you just finished in the top 20 out of 19,000 teams."  What an accomplishment for this young team and what an experience for these kids that will stay with them for a lifetime.

The team, parents and coaching staff would like to thank all of you in Anson County and surrounding areas who contributed in so many ways to their success. These trips and this experience would not have been possible without unselfish supporters stepping up to help young kids live a dream.