Troy 8U Darlings Headed to World Series in Virginia – The Troy Messenger

Earlier today, the Troy 8U Darlings defeated Dothan 5-0 to win the Alabama State Tournament. The Troy Darlings now advance to the World Series in Prince George, Virginia, which begins July 27.

Brooklee Kilpatrick earned the win in the circle by pitching four times and going scoreless in the third inning.

Several Darlings had multiple hits. Kilpatrick, Kinsley Cox, Kensley Wallace and Andi Smith each had two hits. Collins Folmar, Zalaiya Reynolds, Libby Paul and Birdy Stephens all had one hit apiece. Reynolds had two RBI in the game. Folmar, Wallace and Kilpatrick each had one RBI.

Coach Anthony Dixon commented after the win, “For the majority of this team, this is a back-to-back-to-back state championship for them. A small group of them won a state title as five-year-olds, a bigger group won as six-year-olds and most of them won last year as seven-year-olds and we won this morning, so this is their fourth straight state championship.” Dixon added, “As you can see on the scoreboard, we gave up zero runs today, so I think in the tournament, in six or seven games, we’ve given up maybe in the teens in runs. The defense we played was great, especially in an 8U game, to give up zero runs is almost unheard of, especially against a good team in Dothan. Dothan has a really good team, we just played great today.”

The Dixie organization and the city of Troy are providing some financial assistance to help cover some of the costs of the trip to Virginia. But the Darlings are now turning to fundraising. Dixon said, “Getting 12 to 13 families to come to Virginia to hopefully stay for five or six nights and then come back home is a big financial investment and so we’re trying to raise money to help ease the burden on the families who are having to pay out of pocket to support their daughters.”

If anyone would like to contribute, they can contact any of the Troy 8U Darlings parents.

Mayor Jason Reeves said, “Dan Smith and his staff are world class and do an incredible job of putting on events. These tournaments have a huge impact on the local economy and it’s really special when you can put them on and win them. Congratulations to Coach Dixon, the girls, staff and families for a great tournament. Our 6U girls also did great and represented our community very well. Our recreation staff will now reload, put on an amazing fireworks display on Thursday and host State again starting on Friday. We are so thankful for the community that provides the resources through our city council to make this all possible and the championship caliber staff, volunteers and players that accomplish so much for Troy and Pike County.”