Hudson 9U All Stars Are World Series Champions

It's not how you start that matters most, it's how you finish.

That's an old sports cliche and it couldn't be more true when describing the journey taken by the Hudson 9U Dixie League All Stars in their quest to become World Series Champions.  Starting with the state tournament and ending with the World Series tourney, these youngsters found ways to dig themselves into an early hole but they always persevered.  In fact, Hudson didn't win the state tourney, they came out as runner-up to a team from Spring Hill.  However, both teams advanced to the Dixie League World Series in West Monroe, Louisiana.

The World Series is divided into two stages.  The first stage is pool play where the teams play several games and then those with the best records go into single elimination bracket play.  The Hudson All Stars lost a couple of games in pool play, but when it came time for bracket play, they were stellar.

In Sunday's bracket game against Pascagoula, Taber Childs hit a 2 run homerun that helped propel Hudson to victory. Then, in the semifinal game Monday morning, Hudson had the unenviable task of playing a team from Shreveport.  According to Coach Tony Holder, the team from Shreveport is arguably the best team in the nation and had already handily defeated our local boys earlier in pool play.

However, this time around Collin Pitts took to the mound and had one of his best performances of the season as he struck out 11 en route to a 2-0 shutout victory.  That win put Hudson into the championship game against the same team that they finished 2nd to for the Texas state championship, but this time around Hudson had Spring Hill's number.

Carson Courtney pitched an outstanding game and Collin Pitts blasted a 3 run shot to help give Hudson a 7-3 win over Spring Hill, and giving the Hudson All-Stars the World Series Championship.

These kids, coaches, and their parents are to be congratulated.  Also, the run to the World Series takes quite a bit of money so fundraisers will be held during the remainder of the Summer to help offset some of those costs.  Keep listening to KICKS 105 to get more details about those.

Members from the team are listed below:

Kanaan Holder, Trenton Wells, Collin Pitts, Taber Childs, Garrett Hogg, Carson Courtney, Preston Kelly, Juan Ramos, Braden Rowell, Mason Smith, Aiden Sanchez,  and Isaac Estrada

Coaches: Tony Holder, Brent Pitts, Michael McDonald,