The Lunenburg County Youth Baseball League (LCYBL) Minors All-Star team established itself as one of the best teams in the district, finishing as runner-up in the 2018 Virginia Dixie Youth Baseball Minor League All-Star District 5 Tournament in Dinwiddie.

“They played really well,” LCYBL Minors All-Star Manager Gerald Hooton said. “Three weeks is a long time to wait and prepare for games, and I was proud of how they did. They’re all really good kids. We had a real young team this year and hope to come back next year with (an) even stronger team. I’m proud of how they did.”

The only team Lunenburg lost to was the Dinwiddie National All-Star squad. The LCYBL boys lost a competitive 8-5 game July 1 and then fell 17-7 in the championship round July 3 in a game that was closer until the midway point of the fifth inning.

“And then we lost it from there,” Hooton said. “Things didn’t go our way, and sometimes it’s hard to recover from that.”

Lunenburg opened its tourney run with an 11-4 victory over the Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association All-Stars on June 29. On July 2, the LCYBL Minors eliminated the Charlotte County All-Star team with a 7-2 win.

Hooton cited a variety of different standouts for his team.

“Logan King, he was good on the mound and good in the field,” the manager said. “Rusty Hooton, he had a good at-bat almost every at-bat and never struck out. He flew out once or twice, that was it … Conner Buchanan, the last two games, had great at-bats for us. He bunted for us, and he also came through with speed on bases. … Parker Hite came through both (in the) outfield and infield, on third base, and had a good batting average.”

The manager also highlighted catcher Reece Hart, who caught for Lunenburg the majority of tournament.

“For a young kid like that to preform as well as he did in the heat, he deserves a big (pat) on the back and ‘Good job,’ because he fought every single game against the opponent and the heat, and it’s hard to do with all that gear on and to keep your composure behind the plate,” Hooton said.

The manager praised Aaron Ball for starting every game on the mound and for good batting, Ethan Blowers for good mid-relief pitching, Travon Porter for strong outfield play and Victor Powell for sportsmanship.