A Twin City-based travel baseball team, the Double Town Dogs, have earned themselves some new hardware and some fancy bling! The 10U team managed by Greg Kennedy and coached by Wes Lee and Blake Marsh traveled to Statesboro on Saturday, April 17, and came home champions of the Mill Creek Shootout.
On the squad’s roster are five local boys: Mason Boatright and Hane Henry of Garfield, Jack Lee of Swainsboro, and Jake Marsh and Maddox Sherrod of Canoochee. They are joined by six others, all from Millen: Joshua Asbury, Harley Burke, Breyer Clayton, Cohen Felix, Bryce Lane, and Coleman Rabitsch.
This 11-man team scrapped it out with four other teams in their division: Toombstone from Lyons, the Screven Spurs from Sylvania, the One on One Titans from Claxton, and the Metter Vipers.
The first half of last Saturday consisted of pool play to establish rankings for bracket play. Double Town played three games back-to-back-to-back, dropping the first two of those three.
The first game of the day for Double Town saw them take on Toombstone, who downed the Dogs in a nailbiter 11-10. Double Town then met with the Metter Vipers and, once again, fell a little short 7-4.
Going into Game 3 of the day, spirits were a little low as Double Town was ranked dead last in their age division. However, the team dug deep and showed some grit the remainder of the day, working their way through bracket play to become tournament champions.
Their rally started with Game 4 against One on One Titans, beating them in decisive fashion 12-0.
That win for Double Town set up a rematch against the Vipers. The team from Twin City would exact revenge and come out on top, 7-5, to move on to the championship game.
Tensions were high heading into the title game against Toombstone, who, like the Vipers, were met with a Double Town Dogs team deadest on avenging their earlier loss. The Dogs fought hard and won 8-5, and the boys would be awarded the championship trophy and a set of pretty sweet rings.
Leading up to the win in Statesboro, Double Town Dogs previously played in the Shamrock Classic at Mill Creek on March 27. In that tournament, they placed second overall, losing to Toombstone, making this past weekend’s victory all the better.
The Dogs will next play in tournaments on May 1 and May 15 in Statesboro. Ashlei Boatright, mother of one of the players, said, “These boys love ball and are so much fun to watch! They’re a good group of kids and parents. If you’re free on tournament day, we’d love to see you cheering in the stands!”