FARMVILLE — “Coaching these kids has made this one of the best summers of my life. Beach trips, vacations, forget all that…This is way better,” remarked PEFYA Minors coach Mark Simon after his team won the District 5 Tournament, 14-4, against Prince George on Thursday, July 10.

Prince George began the game with a home run hit by their lead-off batter. After that, PEFYA took no mercy as they completed three quick outs before Prince George could score again.

PEFYA began to bat and quickly returned with three runs. Jake Simon came home on a hit by Michael Dailey, while Rhodes Cooper and Dailey scored shortly after.

The rest of the inning went by with PEFYA scoring two runs before Prince George switched up to bat.

In the second inning, Prince George walked away with no runs, while PEFYA scored three. The score was now 8-1, PEFYA.

Prince George retaliated in the top of the third inning and managed to score three runs before PEFYA came up to bat. However, PEFYA did not score any runs in the bottom of the third.

Prince George came up to bat in the fourth inning, but could not produce any runs. PEFYA batted in the bottom of the fourth and scored six more runs before the game was called. PEFYA had won the championship game.

“This is exactly what I had expected. I knew that the day before after playing the first game, it was going to be hard for the team to focus and calm down after the emotional high of winning…and it was. But today we came out and refocused and you saw what happened. They took care of their business. They have done beautifully and I could not be more proud of them,” commented Simon.

After the game, the team was awarded with trophies for their tournament win. Michael Daily also received an award for Co-Batting Champion. Dailey is a left-handed batter that went 13-16 in batting during the tournament.

He then added, “I am so happy for them. They deserve every bit of this. They never complain and show up early to practice working as hard as they possibly can. That is what wins championships; the hard work and dedication. It is all because of them.”

The PEFYA Minors team will now advance to the state tournament, which will be a nine-team tournament held in South Boston, beginning on Friday, July 25.

Simon went on to say, “The first thing I am going to do is give the boys three days off and let them rest their arms and bodies. Then, we are going to come out and do exactly what we did to prepare for this tournament. We are going to practice at least five days of the week and we are going to work hard. I am going to tell you right now, these kids are not afraid of hard work.”