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It was a great week for Sumter County youth baseball, as both the 12u live pitch and 10u machine pitch all-star teams won their respective Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) District 3 tournaments.

Both teams have qualified for their respective GRPA state tournaments, which will both be held at Mill Creek Regional Park in Statesboro. The tournaments begin on Tuesday, June 25.

The 12u all-stars began their district tournament play on Monday, June 10, with an 18-1 victory over Grady County. They then followed that up with a 4-2 victory over Tift County on Tuesday, June 11. This put the undefeated boys from Sumter into the semifinals, where they lost to Tift County 10-9 on Wednesday, June 12. The loss forced a winner-take-all championship game between Tift and Sumter, but the Sumter County team was able to prevail by the score of 11-3 to take the District 3 title.

“I thought the players played outstanding baseball in the District 3 Tournament down in Bainbridge, GA,” 12u head coach Mike Reeves said. “We had to play a very tough Tift County team three times. These players grew up a lot over the past month, but especially in the district tournament. I am proud of how they have come together as a team and look forward to watching them play in the state tournament next week in Statesboro,” Reeves continued.

As for the 10u Sumter team, they dominated their way to a district title. The 10u all-stars opened the tournament by defeating Grady County 17-2. This put them into the championship game, where they defeated Moultrie/Colquitt County by the score of 19-1.

“The team played great in the district tournament,” head coach John Taylor said. “ The team’s hitting and fielding performance were at a high level that weekend. The state tournament will definitely be more challenging due to the competition being tougher. Sumter county 10u will be ready to compete this upcoming week.”

Both teams will head to Statesboro this week for their respective state tournaments.