It was an action-packed weekend in Columbia as Marion Countians celebrated our nation’s Independence Day.
Downtown Columbia was packed with cars for a cruise-in before the night sky was lit up with fireworks. Several churches also lit up the sky with fireworks throughout the county.
But it was the heat on the ball fields of the Dean Griner Dixie Youth Baseball & Softball Complex that consumed my weekend.
It seemed as if the action would be sparse on the Columbia baseball diamonds as rain fell heavily Friday afternoon with more in the forecast for Saturday. However, the rain stopped Friday in time for district tournaments to begin after some minor delays for field maintenance and never really showed up Saturday, allowing the tournaments to be played as scheduled.
There were four Marion County teams vying for state tournaments at Dean Griner last weekend as the Columbia 7u, 9u and 12u All-Stars, along with the Columbia Duckworth 12u All-Stars were in action in their hometown.
The quartet of All-Star teams were as hot as the 95-plus degree weather with the 7u and 9u All-Stars claiming district crowns and the Columbia 12u All-Stars and Duckworth 12u All-Stars placing as the runner-up in their respective tournaments. The Columbia 12u All-Stars participated in the Ozone tournament, while Duckworth was in the 12u tournament.
However, with only one team representing the district out of the 12-year-old Ozone tournament, the Columbia 12u All-Stars’ summer circuit is complete, while the other three teams playing at Dean Griner last weekend advanced to their respective state tournaments.
I have to tip my hat to the folks out at Dean Griner for their efforts in making the district tournaments run as smoothly as possible. They had a very short window to make the fields playable Friday night and while the dirt in the infields were a bit muddy and the outfields soggy — they did a great job in the little time that they had.
As I strolled into the ballpark Saturday afternoon for Day 2 of the tournament, it was literally night and day from Friday night. The grounds crew had to be out working on the fields bright and early because the fields were in pristine condition despite the hard rains and being played on the night before. They made sure they were going to leave a good impression on the out-of-town folk.
There are a number of Marion County teams that will be heading to state tournaments in the coming weeks. The Columbia 6u (Philadelphia), 7u and 8u (Brookhaven), 9u and 11u (Hattiesburg), Ponytails 10u and Angels 12u (Mendenhall) and Darlings 8u (Magee) All-Stars will play this weekend, July 7-9. The Columbia 10u (Dean Griner), Duckworth 12u (Mendenhall) and Sweeties 6u (Ellisville) will play the following weekend, July 14-16.
