Beulah 8U All-Star team to play at World Series
Published 8:00 pm Tuesday, July 10, 2018
- No. 1: The Beulah 8U Machine Pitch All-Star team won the Alabama state championship on June 27. The team, in no order, are Asher Arnett, Kelton Elliott, Camden Grant, Carter Grant, Harry Grant Colton Jones, Bryar Kilgore, Ryder Lower, Jeremiah Pettus, Connor Snedigar, Ethan Speed and Luke Wooley. Submitted
BEULAH — The Beulah 7U All-Star team walked off the field at last year’s state championship winless in the final tournament of the year.
“A lot of those kids and parents said, ‘We don’t ever want this to happen again, this was awful.’” head coach Rusty Arnett said.
Many of the players participated in travel ball leagues during the fall before returning to the Dixie League with Beulah in March. For about six players on the 8U All-Star team this year, this was the third season playing together with the same teammates.
The third time must have been the charm.
On June 23, Beulah defeated Macon County 14-2. Later that day, the team beat Valley 17-5. Then, on June 27 at the championship game, Beulah won 20-10. Beulah outscored its opponents by a combined 73-32 throughout the tournament, according to Arnett.
This is the first team in Beulah recreational history to have advanced to the World Series. Beulah begins its new championship quest on July 28 against South Carolina.
“I feel confident in our bats,” Arnett said. “Defensively is where we’ve got to tighten up. Our infield’s good and our outfield’s okay, but that’s where we’ve got to improve.”
At last month’s tournament, Beulah had three players hit over .900. Carter Grant went 13-for-13 from the plate with 17 RBIs. Connor Snedigar and Asher Arnett both went 13-for-14 from the plate, hitting .929 for the duration of the tournament.
Coach Arnett was an outfielder for Beulah High School and never won a championship in his career. Now, he’s cherishing every moment of heading to the World Series while coaching his son.
“He got to do something I never got to do, which is pretty cool,” Arnett said. “His dedication is incredible. This kid wants to play baseball all day and every day. I tell people that there are life lessons that you learn in baseball, in football, basketball, in sports that you can’t learn in the classroom.”
This year’s motto for the entire team is “earned” because of the hard work every player has put in since last season’s state tournament. Now the team looks to earn one more title.
“We’re going into the World Series with a little bit of hope,” Arnett said. “We’re expecting to win.”
Anyone interested in learning a bit more about the team can visit them on Facebook at Beulah Recreation Page.
