Bolivar Commercial/Special
The Cleveland Eastside 11-year-old All-Stars won the Dixie Youth Majors North Region Baseball Tournament in Jackson at Grove Park Sunday. Team members are (front from left) Jaylen Rogers, Kyle Moore, Jalen Thigpen, Kendrick Thompson, Glenn Williams, Clifton Shavers (back row) coach Nathan Towers, Caleb Silas, Greg Green, Kamareon Williams, Justin Foster and Coach Kelvin Williams. Not pictured are Tyrik Drummer, Alfred Weir and coach William Taylor.
Cleveland East defeated the Boys Club 5-4 and Yazoo City 6-1. The game with the boys club actually began Saturday but heavy rains forced the game to be completed on Sunday. After the game with the Boys Club, Cleveland East was able to come back later that evening and win the North Region against Yazoo City.
“They played well with a positive attitude,” Cleveland Eastside head coach Kelvin Williams said. “They’re looking like they’re doing what they need to do and what they’re capable of doing. If we take that positive attitude and hard work into the state tournament, we should be successful.”
Jaylen Thigpen, Jalen Rogers and Clifton Shavers Jr. pitched against the Boys Club while Shavers pitched the whole game against Yazoo City.
Williams said the team played its best game against Yazoo City.
“Pretty much everybody hit the ball well,” Williams said. “Defense was good. We didn’t make any errors. Clifton Shavers, Jr. got into a groove, and he pitched the whole game.”
The team is comprised of Thigpen, Rogers, Shavers, Kyle Moore, Kendrick Thompson, Glenn Williams, Caleb Silas, Greg Green, Kamareon Williams, Justin Foster, Tyrik Drummer and Alfred Weir. Kelvin Williams, Nathan Towers and Williams Taylor are the coaches.
The Cleveland Eastside 11-year-old team will now head to Hattiesburg to play in the Dixie Youth Majors State Tournament against the No. 2 seed from the South at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
This trip to state is not the first for many of these players. Most of the players on this team were on the Cleveland Eastside 9-year-old team that finished third in the Dixie Youth 9-year-old State Baseball Tournament in 2008.
Williams said the experience should be a big key in the tournament.
“Hopefully with that experience, they’ll go back with a drive to achieve something higher than what they did before,” Williams said. “As coaches, we’re proud of them. All the coaches said they were proud of them. The parents have also stepped up and helped out.”