Swing Elite keeps seeing title rings
Camaraderie in sports can sometimes be the key ingredient to success and the Starkville Swing Elite 10U baseballers have much of it.
Lucian Walker, Bradley Key Cohen, Blake Little, Will Moody, Zaylon Patton, Brody Burkley, Mitchell Turner, Slade Norman, Davis Anderson and Tyson and Torian Knox have been together for four years. From tee ball to their first couple of years of kid-pitch baseball, they've been through it all and keep accumulating championship rings as they've hit age 10.
“It's just a good group of kids,” Swing Elite coach Jason Burkley said. “They all get along and they're just a bunch of buddies out there that love the game.”
The summer consisted of around 10 tournaments for this crew. Swing Elite were on the go in New Albany, Southaven and all over the state of Mississippi along the way. Burkley said that the team hit a slump early June before coming back home to Starkville to play a higher level of baseball against 11-yearolds. It was there where the team beat the older players and won the tournament and that carried over across the rest of the month.
Swing Elite won the Memorial Day Classic in Southaven after going undefeated in pool play and winning the first game of bracket play. Rain ended the weekend, but they were awarded another championship.
This past weekend was the grand finale for Swing Elite. Flowood hosted the USSSA state championships and Swing Elite competed in the AAA division. After getting through pool play on Friday, they were set for a busy Sunday afternoon where they competed in three games in one day against some of the top competition in the state.
Game one of bracket play was the toughest test. Swing Elite went head to head with the Cleveland Delta Statesmen. Swing Elite was held hitless in the first three innings before Little came through.
“They just are resilient," Burkley said. "The first game we faced a really good pitcher and we had to make some adjustments. We were down 3-2 in the fifth inning when Blake Little got a triple that sparked us and he scored the tying run. That ended up carrying over in bracket play.”
After scratching across just two hits in that win, Swing Elite found their groove from there.
Madison team Ambush was the victim in the semifinals. Swing Elite pounded out 18 hits from eight different players in a 21-5 win. Little continued his hot hitting with a 4-for-4 afternoon and four runs scored and Moody followed with 4-for-5 and three RBI. Patton had three RBI and Norman, Walker, Turner and Cohen had two hits each.
Another metro team was in the way of a championship for Swing Elite, but they weren't going to be denied by the MS Yankees Silver of Madison.
It was a 9-1 blowout win for Swing Elite as Norman led the way on the mound with four innings, three hits, one run and eight strikeouts. Turner went 2-for-2 in the championship with three RBI and Walker had a double in the win.
“They traditionally are a good program," Burkley said. "It was one of those things where we were just kind of on a roll. We were playing loose without pressure and played as a team and it led us to a championship.”
It all made for a special weekend for Swing Elite, which is a team that has had a special run the last few years. What made this run even more special, Burkley said, was that his team came together after the Knox twins left for Gainesville as father Greg and former Mississippi State running backs coach took a job with the Florida Gators.
The loss of those two was a hit for a team that had relied heavily on the skills of the twins, but the nine remaining made a pact to finish things out strong last weekend. They aren't done anytime soon with a great amount of baseball still to be played.
“They've come a long way," Burkley said. "This is their second full year of kid-pitch baseball and from where they were last year to where they are now, you can see that things are clicking. They understand now and that's what makes it fun for us to coach.”