Published: June 25, 2008 01:40 pm            

All-Star practice underway

OLIVE HILL -- While many local kids were cooling off in the pool and others were snoozing or choosing which video game to play, several area ball players were shagging fly balls, fielding grounders and sliding into all kinds of diamond dust – All-Star practice is well underway in Carter County!

This week, baseball and softball squads (three different age groups) that will represent both Olive Hill and Grayson in the upcoming tournaments were practicing on local ball fields.

“It meant a lot to me to be chosen to the All-Star team,” Olive Hill 9/10-year-old team member Jacob Fannin told The Journal-Times at practice earlier this week. “It means a lot because not everyone gets to be on the team. And we shouldn’t have any bad attitudes toward our coaches, the umpires or the other teams – we represent our town and we need to show sportsmanship.”

•Members of the Olive Hill 9/10-All-Stars: Dalton Thornsberry, Dalton Duncan, Cameron Bailey, Tyler Rayburn, Jacob Fannin, Chris Johnson, Ethan Brown, Chaz Stegall, Bradford Bradley, Ralph Wages, Chase Hanshaw.

•Members of the Olive Hill 9/10-year-old softball All-Stars: Brooke Adkins, Alyssa Shelton, Sydney Logan, Sydney Brown, Destiny Perry, Mary Jane Epling, Allie Lester, Patience Jones, Erika Kitchen, Amber Thornsberry, Marleigh Buckler, Crystal Bond, Bethany Dean.

•Members of the local 11/12-year old squad; Taylor Napier, Spencer Phillips, Kyle Stone, Tanner Tackett, Brett Miller, Ryan Hall, Dallen Dean, Matthew Patrick, Troy Riffe, Brandon Cole, Austin Travis.

At Monday night’s practice the two Olive Hill teams scrimmaged each other with the older team’s pitcher throwing to his batters and the younger hurlers pitching to their teammates in a switch-up defense.

“We all make pretty good contact,” Tanner Tackett told the local media. “And we all hit a lot out of the park in the regular Little League season and in practice so far in All-Stars. We’ve got good speed, too. We should run the bases pretty good.”

Look for remaining local team rosters and tournament updates (play in the separate age groups and softball/baseball divisions get underway this Saturday, June 28 and on Monday, June 30) in next week’s sports section. Play in the postseason All-Star tournaments goes through July 10.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.