The roundup from this year's Dixie Youth Baseball District 11 Tournament, which concluded in Lillington this week.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: For more photos from the weekend, click here.
LILLINGTON — A local 8-and-under team is set to play in the Dixie Youth Baseball Division II State Tournament.
The Dunn AA All-Stars went 3-1 in bracket play over the weekend during this year’s District 11 championships at Lillington Recreation Park, advancing to a title matchup against Hope Mills (American).
Monday's championship was a back-and-forth classic that lasted until the final inning and in the end, Hope Mills outlasted Dunn 16-15.
Gabriel Brown led Dunn with three runs scored and was one of seven players to cross the plate at least twice for the district runner-ups.
Dunn AA All-Stars took runner-up honors Monday.
In Day 2 action Sunday, Dunn scored wins over host team Lillington and Hoke County.
Against Lillington, Dunn earned a 19-2 victory. Samuel Hudson, Rhett Hamilton and Harper Johnson each finished with a game-high three runs.
Grey Smith and Palmer Canady accounted for Lillington’s runs.
Dagen Kerley led Dunn with a game-leading four runs during the 18-3 win over Hoke. Hudson, Johnson, Brown, Emery Peregoy, Brandon Stancil and Jennens Honeycutt crossed the plate twice.
Saturday’s opening day saw Dunn power through to a 19-2 victory against Hope Mills (National) before falling to Hope Mills (A) 20-3.
Lillington also suffered a loss to Hope Mills (A), 16-0, then earned a 12-6 victory over Hoke.
The D2 AA state tournament is scheduled to run from July 8-15 at Town Creek District Park in Winnabow.
Four clubs are currently battling for the District 11 AAA crown, with host team Lillington as the sole representative from Harnett County.
Lillington was tied with Hope Mills (N) on Sunday following the first inning, but eventually lost 24-4.
Runs from Kaiden Hensel, Brooks Harris and Nathan Eubanks knotted things at 3 in the bottom half of the first.
But Hope Mills (N) scored 11 in the second and 10 more in the third to close out the contest.
Todd Smith added the other score for Lillington, who also fell to Hoke on Saturday then Hope Mills (A) on Monday.
The top two teams with the best record following pool play advanced to the AAA final Tuesday in Lillington.
The D2 AAA state tournament is set for July 8-15 and is hosted by Dunn.