Myrtle Beach Dixie Youth Majors all-star baseball squad wins state

Some tend to find thousands of words in an effort to describe a picture.

But for Myrtle Beach Dixie Youth Majors all-star baseball coach Mike Foltz, it’s been a struggle to find the right words at all.

For the first time in six decades, Myrtle Beach’s 12-and-under all-star baseball team claimed a Dixie Youth League baseball title In Union last week. During the state tournament, the local squad failed to lose a game, earning the championship in grand fashion.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth and the game tied at 4, Tate Hanna’s walk-off two-run homer completed the Myrtle Beach squad’s run to a pennant.

“I’ve seen so many parents’ photos, and I still have trouble coming up with the right words to describe the moment,” Foltz said. “At the moment, there were so many scenarios running through my head; among them just trying to keep calm. Then all of a sudden on an 0-1 count, (Hanna) takes a hack at a fastball down the middle of the plate and blasted it.

“It truly was a picture-perfect moment.”

While Hanna’s state title-winning home run will receive its share of the praise, the season has been one chock full of players choosing their own respective moment to make an impact, Foltz said.

A dominant pitching rotation consisting of Robbie Anderson, Devan Harvey and Will Jackson has given opponents fits. Meanwhile, Hanna along with Mason Foltz, Max Hogan, Bradley Leckie and Kellen McDowell did their part at the dish.

“Every singe player contributed; defensively, offensively, pitching, fielding, catching … whatever it took to make this happen,” the Myrtle Beach all-star coach said. “They constantly performed. There are truly no holes in this roster; we can shift players on the field or in the batting order, and it won’t miss a beat.”

Next up for the Myrtle Beach all-stars is a trip to the Dixie Youth Majors World Series in Laurel, Miss., and a field of competitors from throughout the Southeast. The double-elimination tournament begins Aug. 6.

“When you’re playing at this level, you’re playing the best of the best. We kind of got a taste of that at the state tournament level,” Foltz said. “But we’re focused and locked in on the task at hand; winning has become something of an addiction for us.”

But even before making the trip to Mississippi, the team is facing a task possibly tougher than the one it recently completed on the diamond.

Unlike high school, college or professional squads with athletic budgets, Foltz is worried the financial demands of the trip may prove too much to bear.

“Parents just recently took a week off to attend a tournament, and all of sudden they’re going to have to go to their bosses and tell them the impossible happened,” the coach said. “The kids, their families are going to be staying elsewhere for several days. That’s several days in which you’re going to have to cover food, ice, drinks, Gatorade, and not to mention lodging.”

In an effort to help offset the financial burden making the tournament could cause, the team is requesting donations from the community. To make a donation, contact Foltz at michaelfoltzsr@outlook.com.

“Adding everything up, it could cost as much as $2,000 per kid; inevitably $20,000 once everything is paid,” Foltz said. “We’re just wanting to make sure the kids are occupied during down time, and make this something enjoyable for them as well. They’ve earned it.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach Dixie Youth Majors all-star baseball squad wins state."