By Brian Jessup
The Patrick County All-Stars bound for the World Series in Louisiana.
The team emerged as Virginia State Champions in the 2019 Virginia Dixie Youth State Tournament that was held July 5 – 10 in South Boston.
The “O” Zone league tournament began with eight teams, Bedford Metro, Rustburg, Halifax, Franklin County, Bedford Central, Madison Heights, Emporia-Greensville and Patrick County. Remarkably, the Patrick County All-Stars carried their momentum from undefeated district play in Radford and dominated the State tournament, finishing 5-0.
With the State Championship, they became the first ever team from Patrick County to win back to back state titles and the first team ever to make two consecutive trips to the Dixie Youth World Series.
“What an experience it has been for the players, coaches, families and fans to be a part of this historic season,” said Patrick County coach Brian Jessup. “Many said that it would be a long, long time before Patrick County would get back to the World Series and I can’t be happier for this group of young men for what they’ve accomplished. We actually started this journey two years ago when we lost to Montgomery County in the 2017 District Championship. We’ve worked so hard since that time and it’s extremely gratifying to see all the work pay off.
“We had a really good team last year but this year’s team dominated opponents in most every facet of the game offensively and defensively throughout the district and state tournaments, not losing a single game, scoring a total of 83 runs in 10 games and held opposing teams to only 10 runs,” Jessup said. “I can’t thank Patrick County enough for all the support it has given us throughout this journey.”
When the State tournament began on July 5, Patrick played District 2 champions, Emporia-Greensville winning that game in dominant fashion 12-1. The following day Madison Heights, District 6 champion, faced off against Patrick but fell short 7-1. Game 3 of the tournament found Patrick matched up with perennial baseball powerhouse, Halifax County. Patrick jumped out early in the game, scoring 5 runs in the first inning, adding another 4 in the fourth and decisively won the game 11-2. With this win, Patrick County separated itself among the field by becoming the only team with no losses in the double elimination tournament.
The fourth game of the tournament proved to be a nail-biter when Patrick County played Rustburg. Offensively and defensively, both teams fought back and forth the whole game. The score was 0-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and two strikes when Patrick scored the game’s only run with a walk off of a single and scoring the waiting runner standing on third. The 1-0 victory sent Patrick to its second straight state championship game.
The fifth and final game of the tournament resulted in a rematch with Halifax County who had beaten Madison Heights the day before to keep its hopes of a state championship alive.
“I knew a second game with Halifax would not go as smoothly as it did in game 3 of the tournament,” Jessup said. “Halifax was a solid and well coached team. I knew a second game against them would be really tough for us. We were actually tied 1-1 after three innings and tied 3-3 after four. Our bats finally came alive in the top of the fifth, and we were able to squeak out 3 runs that sealed the deal for us,” he added.
In addition to winning the state title, Hunter Pendleton of Patrick County received the batting champion award by maintain the highest batting average of all players in the tournament, .571.
Patrick County also became the first team in Patrick County history to win the prestigious Charlie Green Sportsmanship Award.
This award is presented to the team who exemplifies great conduct, behavior and care for those on and off the field during the state tournament. “Winning this award is almost as satisfying as winning the state title,” Jessup said. “What an honor to receive such a coveted award. We work really hard to produce great play on the field and even harder to train these boys to become good Christian men. It’s nice to see that our actions made a positive impression on Dixie Youth officials while in South Boston.”
Winning the state title gives Patrick County a berth to the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series in Ruston, La., beginning Aug. 2. State champions from Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Virginia make up this year’s Dixie Youth World Series. Patrick County will play Mississippi at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3 in game 1 of the series.
Team members include Lucas Taylor, son of Rob and Cheryl Taylor; Easton Harris, son of Terry and April Harris; Noah Jessup, son of Brian and Traci Jessup; Chance Corns, son of Chad and Amy Corns; Broc Taylor, son of Andrew Taylor and Jordan Taylor; David Lawson, son of DJ and Miranda Lawson; Hunter Heath, son of Randy and Sandra Heath; Hunter Pendleton, son of Tony and Amy Pendleton; Stuart Callahan, son of Stuart Callahan, Sr and Misty Roberts; Jackson Horton, son of Blake and Dee Horton; Gavin Fain, son of Jerimiah and Melody Fain and Avery Brintle, son of Eric and Bethany Brintle.
Jessup is head coach of the team. He is assisted by DJ Lawson, Michael Hall, Rob Taylor and Chad Corns.
