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Sugar is ready for Deep South
By JON MOFFETT
Struthers
The National Amateur Baseball Federation is having its World Series tournament in one of the hardest states to spell.
But that hasn’t been an issue for the Dave Sugar Excavating 18-and-under team. They’ve been practicing their geographical letter arrangements.
“Before the final [qualifying] game, it was all Mississippi,” head coach Terry Dobson said. “They’d be chanting M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I in the dugout, and it was the only thing on their minds.”
Dave Sugar won a bid to the NABF 18-and-under World Series in Jackson, Miss. The team defeated another local team, 1080 Media, in the Class B league to advance. 1080 Media had defeated Rondinelli Tuxedo, ensuring a local team would travel to the tournament.
Dobson said having three local teams competing for the bid was a testament to the league’s competition.
“For us to compete against the other teams and have three at the end shows the athletic accomplishments of the players in are area,” Dobson said. “Some of the traveling teams have been trying to take our players, and we’re held pat and stayed resilient. That shows how good these kids are.”
Dave Sugar is guaranteed six games in the tournament, Dobson said. Four games will be in pool play. The remaining games will be divisional play. Dobson said there is a consolation bracket as well.
The team will depart for the tournament on Tuesday and will take part in an opening ceremony on Wednesday. Games begin the following day.
While a trip down south is appealing, Dobson said he already has stressed the importance of considering it a business venture.
“We’ve set the goal, and I told them we can have a vacation after that,” Dobson said. “They’ve bought into that idea. We’re not just going to Mississippi for vacation, we’re going to win.”
Dobson said pitching and an opportunistic offense have been the major cogs to the 18-9 record. He hopes those elements will follow the team southward.
“The pitching staff as a whole, especially at the last part of the year, has gone to the next level and have been throwing strikes,” he said.
Getting mentally ready for the 1080 Media game was the hardest part, Dobson said. The team was so focused on going to Mississippi that they almost forgot how to get there.
“It got to the point where they just wanted to get to the final out immediately,” he said. “They wanted to finish the game before the game started.”
But now Dobson and the team are focused on one thing: a championship.
“I just look forward to going down there and showing off how good they are,” he said. “And they want to go down there and prove what they’re worth.”
The tournament, Dobson said, is one of the more heavily scouted in the country.
And for big-league aspirations, it’s a pivotal first step.