S.C. wins AAA title

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: August 10, 2017

Hartsville Northern completes dominating sweep through Dixie Youth AAA series; Adams wins batting title

Players and coaches from Hartsville (S.C.) Northern celebrate winning the Dixie Youth AAA World Series. Below, Dylan Adams accepts the award for winning the tournament batting title.

ROAD TO THE TITLE
Louisiana, 6-0
Arkansas, 12-0
Florida, 3-1
Tennessee, 12-0
Alabama, 15-3
Florida, 16-0

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD – As 8-year-olds, the blue-collar Hartsville (S.C.) Northern All-Stars won a Dixie Youth AA Coach-Pitch World Series. Two years later, the sprouts have grown into “Savage Cabbages.”

The South Carolina champions came into the Dixie Youth AAA World Series as favorites and they lived up to the hype, completing a dominating six-game sweep with a 16-0 rout of Spring Hill, Fla., in the title game Thursday morning at Choccolocco Park.

Hartsville outscored its six Series opponents 64-4; its closest game was a 3-1 third-round win over Florida. The four-inning, complete-game four-hitter by Web Barnes in the championship game was the team’s fourth shutout of the Series.

“It’s just hard work, dedication and great parents, and great coaches,” manager Bret Moore said. “It’s déjà vu all over again.

“They just strive for excellence. These guys put the work in; we didn’t expect anything less. Going through our state we were picked to win it, getting here we were picked to win it. Everybody feared the ‘Savage Cabbage’. We took it and loved every moment of it.”

The idea of calling themselves “Savage Cabbages” was just something that came out of first baseman Dylan Adams’ mouth one day and it stuck.

Adams won the World Series batting title. A shoulder injury kept him from playing in the field the championship game – a last-minute scratch — but it didn’t keep him out of the lineup. He went 3-for-3 with an intentional walk and three RBIs, and finished hitting .625 (10-for-16) for the tournament.

He was one of three players in contention for the batting title entering the championship game and basically won it with an RBI single in the first inning that opened the scoring.

“I feel like I hit it pretty good,” he said.

The champions settled this one early. They scored three runs in each of the first two innings and then broke it open with 10 runs in the fourth.

Jackson Moore went 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs from the leadoff spot. Daniel Parker and Barnes each had two hits. Brandon Harrison had two hits and two RBIs.

“I really wanted to win,” Barnes said, “because I’m a Savage Cabbage.”