The Hartselle 8U All-Stars traveled to Brandon, Miss. for the 2023 All-American Youth Sports World Series and came home with some championship hardware following their performance.

“It’s hard to put into words how proud of the girls I am,” Hartselle coach Michael Putman said. “They worked very hard in practice and then all of the other tournaments to become a very solid team. They fought hard and pulled off a comeback win to take home some jewelry. As their coach, knowing these girls are ready to move on to their next team with a better understanding of the game and a great level of confidence is a great feeling. ”

The Lady Tigers opened pool play with a 14-0 win over Clinton, Miss. They followed the victory up with an 18-8 victory over Northwest Rankin, Miss. Hartselle was one of five teams to finish undefeated in pool play. After tie-breaker procedures, the Lady Tigers entered bracket play as the third overall seed.

Hartselle opened up bracket play with a 16-7 win over Pike County, Ga. In their second bracket game, they fell 12-0 to Semmes Blue, who eventually would win the 8U championship. In the loser’s bracket, the Lady Tigers dropped a heart-breaking 6-5 game to Pike County, Miss. The loss dropped Hartselle into the silver bracket.

“They started the World Series in pool play giving up very little runs and hitting the ball very well,” Putman said. “Their good play continued in the bracket and it was obvious they were there having fun. While games two and three didn’t go our way the girls played hard and made some amazing plays.”.

The Lady Tigers opened silver bracket play with a resounding 15-5 win over Brandon, Miss, setting up a silver bracket championship game with Pike County, Ga.

Pike County, Ga. jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two innings. Hartselle began chipping away in the third and finished the comeback in the fifth scoring the game-winning run after time had expired to win 11-10.

“Their bats came alive even more Saturday morning in the silver bracket,” Putman said. “They play great in their first game Saturday putting us in our bracket championship. The championship game started very slow for us. We were down 7-1 going in to the top of the third inning. That is when they really turned it on and started making plays well above their age. They fought hard and pulled off a comeback win.”

Skill events

The Lady Tigers had a tremendous showing in the world series skill events. They had two first-place finishes and a second-place finish.

Kate Bolding won the Home Run Derby competition by hitting 47 home runs. The next closest competitor had 31 home runs.

The team of Piper Putman, Kate Bolding, Anna Kay Crowe and Lyla Long won the Around the Horn competition. They were the only 8U team to finish under nine seconds with a time of 8.94.

Lennan Davenport finished second in the baserunning competition. She had a time of 13.43 running from home to home.