Hilton Head baseball 10U all-stars are headed to Diamond Youth World Series in Louisiana

In just a few weeks’ time, a handful of nine and ten-year-old boys from Hilton Head will travel the 873 miles to Bossier City, Louisiana to represent South Carolina in the Division I AAA 10U Diamond Youth Baseball World Series. The last time that the Hilton Head Baseball Association claimed the World Series title was more than 20 years ago in 2001.

“The once in a generation thing is not just a saying,” said David Cross a volunteer coach and father of a player, “This might be once every 25 to 30 years that this happens.”

The team completed an impressive 12-2 post-season run so far this month, outscoring their opponents 84-13. They took home the South Carolina Diamond Youth Baseball State Championship on July 11 after sweeping opponents in the District Championship. The state tournament was held in Columbia, and brought together about 130 players from 12 districts across the state in the 10U category, Cross said.

The team is led by Coach Rob Hummel, who joined the Hilton Head Baseball Association in 2017. He has been coaching baseball for about 20 years. This group, he said, is a “fundamentally sound and hard-working group of ten year olds.” Hummel was especially impressed by their team defense in districts, where they gave up zero runs, and in states, where they only gave up two runs per game on average. They can also throw a mean pitch, coming in at around 60 mph according to Cross.

Making Hilton Head baseball history

To the best of his knowledge, Hummel said that only five teams in history from the Hilton Head Baseball Association have made it to the Diamond World Series. For Hummel, the most surreal moment so far was when the team transitioned from Team Hilton Head to Team South Carolina.

The competition across the state is fierce, said Cross. About 20,000 players participated in Diamond Youth Baseball across the state, and just last year, the South Carolina 10U state champions from the Greer Baseball Club made an impressive run at the World Series, placing fifth overall.

However, the players out of Hilton Head have really stepped up to the plate. The 8U, 10U and 12U teams each won districts and made it all the way to the state championship games this season, Cross said. Despite coming from a relatively small market compared to the competition out of Greenville, Charleston and Myrtle Beach, Cross said that Hilton Head has somewhat become “the epicenter of the baseball universe for South Carolina” this year.

For Cross, the winning record and state championship title is only a part of what makes this team special. The boys are resilient in the face of adversity even at such a young age. After winning the first four games in the state tournament, the all-stars were set to play a team they had already beaten. A win would guarantee they won the state tournament, but the boys ended up losing. They had another game just an hour later, and instead of getting down on themselves, they came together and decided they were going to finish the job.

“It was hot, it was 97 degrees. They were tired. It was a long tournament. And yet they got out there. They pulled it together,” said Cross.

On Tuesday evening, the boys gathered for one of their final practices before departing for Louisiana. The experience of winning the state championship was “relieving,” “fun,” “good,” and “awesome,” the boys said. The boys expressed a focus on the ultimate prize: the World Series title. They said that they have been climbing level to level, but this level will be “the main boss.”

Shiloh Cross, 10, said that having the chance to represent the state of South Carolina at the World Series feels “really good.” He said that he was very proud of the team for what they had already accomplished this season. Hayne Carstens, 10, said that the competition in Louisiana will be different than what they have faced before, since the teams they will play defeated all of the other teams in their home states. This week in practice, the boys said, they are practicing the basics of bunting, defense and hitting.

Most of the boys have been playing together since t-ball, but the World Series from August 2 to August 7 will be the biggest stage of their young careers. Their first game in pool play starts at 11:30 a.m. on August 2. They will play against the host team, Bossier City, one of the two teams from Louisiana in the tournament. If they win Friday, they will advance to play the winner of Louisiana and Arkansas on Saturday morning.

“Wherever this ends, whether you’re a World Series champ, or you’re the first team eliminated, nothing changes how proud I am of these boys and how true champions they really are,” said Hummel.