Dalton Flowers, 8-year-old son of Daniel and Kristi Flowers, has earned himself the No. 1 spot on Top Gun Sports USA’s 8U MVP leaderboard. Top Gun Baseball – Georgia made that official with a Facebook post on March 19. Although the leaderboard is an “early” one, given how new this season is, Flowers is looking to build on this achievement as this year of travel ball continues.
He plays for Line Drive Statesboro’s 8U team coached by Ty Mingle and Joel Hussey. The team’s first baseman started playing baseball at 3-years-old and has been improving ever since, thanks to practicing with his dad as well as another one of his coaches, Roy Beneteau.
The leaderboard is based off multiple stats, including home runs, RBIs, batting averages, and runs scored. Flowers found out Friday, March 19, that he occupied the top spot. He says he was “super excited” when he heard the news.
“I have organized practice at least three times a week with either Line Drive, my sister’s team, Angels Beneteau 10U, or my Dixie Youth team,” he said. “I also go outside almost every afternoon to play ball with my dad, mom, sister, or cousins, so I pretty much do something baseball-related every day.”
Flowers credits his Line Drive coaches, his parents, Coach Beneteau, and (surprisingly enough!) the Angels Beneteau 10U team for providing him the opportunity to play and practice regularly, which, in turn, lends to him being the top player on the MVP leaderboard as of late.
“Dalton loves to play baseball, and he works really hard at it,” his mother said. “We are super proud of him and this accomplishment.”
She added that the season has just started, and the March 19 release of the leaderboard was the first of its kind for this year. It will be updated every weekend from now until the end of the summer. Flowers will play multiple times a month from now to August, so he will have plenty more chances to play well enough to keep his spot on the list. Look for more updates accordingly as Flowers’ season continues. (Several other local boys play with Line Drive Statesboro 8U, and The Chronicle will provide updates about those players accordingly as well.)
In closing, the Swainsboro kid said, “I love baseball because it’s fun, I get to be around my teammates, I have been able to meet new friends, and I really love the game itself. I want to win some more games and some more rings. I’d love to play Major League Baseball someday!”
Flowers’ next tournament is scheduled for this weekend, March 27-28.
He is the younger brother of 9-year-old Kaley Flowers and the big brother of 6-month-old Kristin Flowers. The grandson of Tim and Judy Garrett and Gail Flowers, he is in second grade at David Emanuel Academy.