Comforts of home

Starkville 6's show maturity entering tournament action

Allan Smith has been coaching youth baseball for a long time.

Yet the head coach of the Starkville 6-year-old all-star team has been incredibly impressed with the group he'll lead into action today at the Dizzy Dean South State Tournament at Starkville's McKee Park.

“Kids are adapting to new positions,” Smith said. “They're all learning the game of baseball in this short amount of time. They already know with a man on first where they need to go with the ball or with a man on second, where they need to go. They're really tuned in to how many outs there are. It has really surprised me at the age of 6 how we have 12 kids that are really mature and into baseball.”

Starkville's maturity should be a benefit for the group as the team looks to keep playing well this summer. The all-stars' first test comes today against Grenada at 5 p.m.

Smith hopes his club can perform as well as they did last weekend in Eupora.

“We hit the ball really well and played really good defense (in Eupora),” Smith said. “That's the main thing in coach pitch is just to get the outs that the other team gives you and hit the ball hard and we hit the baseball really hard last weekend.”

Smith knows it'll take more of the same to come out on top this weekend. Starkville is familiar with virtually every team in the field. They are all talented groups. The all-stars from Houston are the only unit that Starkville hasn't seen.

Aside from familiarity with opponents, Starkville also gets to

play on its own turf. That's something Smith says everyone enjoys.

“The parents really appreciate it,” Smith said. “It's nice to know where you're going and know the field that you're playing on. You get to practice on those fields. It really is a blessing as far as that goes.”

Starkville hopes to give its hometown fans much to cheer for this weekend. However things go though, Smith said he is treasuring seeing his team succeed and grow.

“Being around them and getting to share the time with them and getting to know them on a personal level and watching them grow as baseball players and as young boys, it's really gratifying,” Smith said.

Smith, Jeff Anthony, Chris Pulliam and Casey Skelton are the coaches for the Starkville squad. The team is made up of Cooper Anthony, Thomas Collier, Preston Crouch, Murphy Gordon, Cline Kemp, Brayden Lambert, Kylan Pulliam, Tucker Skelton, Knox Smith, Reed Sparks, Will Thomas and Leighton Whiteside.