Diamond Elite 11U - Black defeated the LA Crushers 11U 9-1 in the 11U Open USSSA Global World Series Championship game in Destin, Florida. Diamond Elite 11U – Black outscored their tournament opponents 75-25 over the course of five days, beginning June 9 – 13, 2021. They went 6-1 on the week.
Diamond Elite went in the first day with a loss to the Crushers when they gave up eight runs in one inning. After that loss, Diamond Elite put it in overdrive and went undefeated over the next four days. Besides the Louisiana team, Diamond Elite battled against teams from Indiana, Georgia, and South Carolina.
“All 11 of my players shined in one way or another, whether on the mound, fielding or hitting,” expressed Coach Lee Rich. “After the mistakes and errors of the first game, the players realized the only team that could beat us down here was us. They didn’t let up after that.”
The core of young men on this team has been together for four years. What started out with more than half the boys coming from local tri-county recreational ball teams—Stonewall, Enterprise, Clarkdale, Quitman, Philadelphia—is now also comprised with players from Lauderdale, Neshoba, and Lowndes counties.
Diamond Elite 11U – Black is coached by Head Coach Lee Rich and Assistants Lee Blackburn and TJ Rushing. They volunteer their time two to three days a week with this group of young men and play multiple tournaments throughout the fall and spring/summer season. They travel throughout the southern region to play competitive baseball.
“I am very proud of this team from when we started to now. My goals for the boys from the beginning were for them to understand the game of baseball in the correct form, learn life lessons from the game, and to hand them off to high school coaches with those lessons,” stated Coach Rich. “Half of this team was able to try out for their respective junior high teams. I am proud to say 100% of them made it.”
The team has had a very successful season and will continue to grow and work even harder in the upcoming years.
Congratulations to each of the following Diamond Elite players: Micah Thompson, Tanner Spears, Brody Blackburn, Cash Dearman, Cody Seale, Jacob Isaac, Jake Dearman, Addison Rich, Hayden Pigg, Hutt Rushing, and Guest Player Cade Seale.
