The Crossville 6U Baseball All-Stars are currently in Henderson, TN. competing in the Diamond Youth Baseball State Championships. Crossville, who opened the tournament Thursday morning with Pleasant View, is battling the best of the best.
Coach Shawn Scott, who has had to replace two players on his squad, as well as two assistant coaches, said he team will compete as hard as they can to try and bring home the championship trophy.
“Unfortunately, I really don’t know anything about any of the teams in our division,” said Scott. “I know from past experience and talking with some of last year’s coaches, Lebanon is a really good team as is Loudon County.”
Scott said the double elimination baseball tournament is expected to run through July 5.
“How we’ve approached it with the players is we have to just work on us,” Scott said. “If we do what we do, and we do it well, we should be fine. After the first or second inning, you can make an adjustment, but other than that it is going to be difficult.”
Scott and his staff have been practicing with his squad for about a month now. Crossville received a bye through the district tournament straight into the state contest.
He said he’s been focusing with his players on the fundamentals of the game, especially since his team is made up of 5-6 year olds.
“We’ve worked a lot on fundamentals and a lot on hitting. I think we’re seeing a lot of the players getting better. It has just taken some time. We’ve not been able to participate in many competitive scrimmages so far,” Scott said. “How they play in practice is one thing.
“In the regular season, we were allowed to have coaches on the field with the players during the game. At the state tournament, you can’t do that. That is unless you’re coaching first base, third base or you’re pitching. That’s a big change for everyone.”
Crossville did have a scrimmage last week against Spring City, last year’s state runner-up.
“We learned a lot about our team in the scrimmage with Spring City,” Scott said. “They were definitely more prepared for the game situations than we were just because they had already played five games. So, it could have hurt us not getting to play in the district tournament.”
Scott said his team seems to be hitting the ball well in practice. He just wants a little more consistency up and down the lineup card. He said that would help a lot because of another rule change heading into the state contest.
During the regular season, each batter was allowed five pitches, and strikes didn’t count. At the state tournament, players will get five pitches, but also three strikes. So, if the first three pitches aren’t good, but the batter swings and misses, he’s out.”
Scott is a little concerned about defense with this year’s quad. At the 6-year-old division, throwing the ball around the infield can be difficult. That allows the offensive team to be aggressive on the base paths.
“We’ve just got to get the easy outs on defense,” Scott said. “Offensively, there’s a good chance they won’t be able to throw the ball around and make a tag. So, if we’re aggressive on the bases, it will benefit us.”