WILSON — Chatham County is wrapping up one of its most exciting summers of baseball yet.
In a little over a month, the largest youth sporting event in the country will take place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania: the famed Little League World Series.
Storylines will be written, hilarious moments will be made and baseball careers will be born from the 10- to 12-year-old athletes that make up the 16 teams of both domestic and international competition at the event.
But what’s not shown on screen as part of the field of 16 are all of the Little League teams across the nation — and the world — that took the field this summer. Those which came close to qualifying for the LLWS but fell short, those which competed in their state or district tournaments and even those in younger (or older) age groups which aren’t eligible for the LLWS.
While Chatham’s local teams account for a relatively minute number of Little League teams around the world, this summer has shown that the county’s baseball scene has never been stronger.
And it starts with East Chatham’s youngest All-Stars.
“It was a highly successful season by our league’s standards,” Daniel Lewis, the head coach of the East Chatham 8U All-Stars, said on Monday, a day removed from his team’s third-place finish in the N.C. Little League 8U state tournament on Saturday. “As far as I know, this is the best finish by East Chatham ever.”
Once the postseason struck and the group of 7- and 8-year-old All-Stars came together, East Chatham experienced a meteoric rise.
Fueled by a strong competitive spirit and an “unflappable nature,” Lewis described, his club rolled through the N.C. District 2 Tournament without losing a game.
In its undefeated (4-0) district title run in mid-June, East Chatham won three of four games via mercy rule, including the championship game against Davie County, where it clinched the championship, 28-15, in the fifth inning.
Then, it was on to the state tournament in Wilson last weekend.
On a toasty evening last Friday, East Chatham took the field at Southern Bank Stadium — a replica of Wilson’s historic Fleming Stadium, which opened in 1939 — in an atmosphere unlike any it’d experienced up to that point for its first game of the tournament against the hometown Wilson team.
Southern Bank Stadium, constructed as part of the J. Burt Gillette Baseball Complex in 2009, is equipped with a grandstand that seats 450 spectators, a large lawn that can fit around 500 more and a scoreboard in the outfield that displays an image of the batter when they’re at the plate. It may not have been Williamsport, but it sure felt like it.
East Chatham came prepared for the bright lights.
“It’s funny because our outfielders, since that big Jumbotron’s up there, they’re just staring at it while the pitch is in play and I’m like, ‘...Please look at the field!’” Lewis said with a laugh. “It was great, it was loud. The stadium was echoing, the music was blaring. … They seemed to rise to the level as opposed to shrinking from the moment.”
The EC All-Stars went on to defeat Wilson, 3-0, on its home turf in a dominant showing.
But they hadn’t yet hit their stride.
The following day — on one of the complex’s smaller fields — they shut out Rocky Mount, 10-0, meaning that through the tournament’s first two games, East Chatham had yet to allow a single run. The train kept on rolling.
“They hit the ball well, our infield defense is our true strength — we have some phenomenal infielders — but maybe more than anything was that they had this unflappable nature, they just never got down,” Lewis said. “Young players, it’s an emotional game for them. … They were just big-time hungry competitors and played with passion and I’d hesitate to call it ‘malice,’ but they really wanted to beat the other team.”
The EC All-Stars lost to Franklin later on Saturday afternoon, 9-8, but would get their revenge in the single-elimination portion of the tournament on Sunday, downing Franklin in the rematch, 11-8, and advancing to the state semifinals.
Then, they ran into a team that Lewis describes as a “buzzsaw.”
East Chatham’s season ended in the semifinals on Sunday with a 10-0 shutout loss to Lake Norman, the tournament’s no. 1 seed.
“They were noticeably better than us,” Lewis said, referring to Lake Norman. “Even though we had lost to Franklin, it didn’t feel like they were better than us, but Lake Norman felt better than us.”
While the EC All-Stars never got a chance to play for a championship on the same field that hosted their opening win, a third-place finish in the state’s 8U division is no reason to scoff.
Lewis says he doesn’t think so, either, but he’s ready to find a way to get over that hump.
The off-season starts now.
“To me, the season was a great success,” Lewis said. “The kids grew, they’ve gotten a bunch of new buddies. … I’d say, 30,000-foot view, I’m super proud and impressed and it’s just been a phenomenal season. But on the micro-level, I’m turning over every rock to try to figure out how we can win that last game. I think that’s my job as a coach and my job as a board member, to give these boys every chance to succeed.”
This season, Little League teams from both East and West Chatham have spent countless hours practicing for district and state tournaments, learned plenty of life lessons both on and off the field and — most importantly — had tons of fun in the process.
After losing last season to the COVID-19 pandemic, baseball in the county has come back in full force.
The All-Stars from the East Chatham Little League had two teams representing the county at the state tournament, including the 8U team that finished third place in Wilson and the 14U team that finished as the state runner-up in Kernersville, both of which won their respective district tournaments.
The 10U (fourth place) and 12U (third place) teams fell just short of qualifying for their state tournaments after their district tourney performances.
However, the West Chatham All-Stars boasts one of the county’s most impressive teams as the 12U squad won its district tournament last month, posting a 5-0 record by a combined score of 58-1. They’ll begin play in the state tournament in Eden this Saturday, July 17, for a shot at a championship.
West Chatham also saw its 8U and 10U teams qualify for the state tournament after winning their district tournaments.
The 8U squad lost in the state tournament two weekends ago and the 10U team lost in the single-elimination portion of its tournament on Monday.
In total, five of the county’s eight All-Stars teams were crowned district champions in June.
As great as the final scores, trophies and banners are, this summer has illustrated the importance of Little League baseball as a whole.
“It’s scary sometimes to put yourself out there because what if you fail, but if you want to chase greatness, there could be pain on the other side but otherwise there’s just mediocrity,” Lewis said. “The kids showed talent, they showed that they wanted it, so why not pour everything into it? Why not show them what’s attainable with hard work?”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.