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It started after the district tournament. Beaten by scores of 23-3 and 18-8, the Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association (PEFYA) Majors team was eliminated from the competition. But due to the fact another team wasn’t available, the Majors got an automatic bid to the state tourney and took advantage of it. Since then, they’ve gone on a run. 

The Majors went 3-1 overall in the state tournament, capped with a 13-7 victory over Dinwiddie American to claim the title. Now the 11-12 year old group, sponsored by State Farm Agent Edgar Jones, are headed to the World Series, set up this year in Bossier City, Louisiana.

“It makes the story pretty interesting because essentially we were not supposed to be in the state tournament, much less win the whole thing,” acknowledged Majors coach James McCann, whose team also notched victories by scores of 7-1 and 15-5 with the lone loss coming 7-6 after nearly rallying from four runs down.

“We just got on a hot streak.  The boys came in there playing loose and free.  The root of what baseball is I believe is having a good time.  That’s how they went in there the first couple of games. They played relaxed and we ended up winning the state tournament.”

In the title game, pitchers Tristan Weaver and Reece Pembleton starred by combining for 11 strikeouts.  Centerfielder Cambryn Walker made a sensational diving catch in a roller-coaster battle, where the Majors saw a 10-0 run lead get cut to three at 10-7 before scoring the final three runs to pull away.

“Our pitching was really good.  Tristan and Reece led us through the tournament with minimal mistakes. They didn’t walk many batters and threw a bunch of strikes. Collectively, our defense behind them played really well and made the plays when we needed to,” McCann added.  

“On offense, we were disciplined at the plate, drew a lot of walks, got a lot of base runners on and got timely hits when we needed them.”

PEFYA Majors head to Louisiana

PEFYA’s Majors will play a ‘host’ team in pool play from Louisiana beginning on Thursday, July 25.  From there, the event becomes double elimination.

Regardless of how things play out, it has been quite a memorable experience for all involved with the program.  They’re not ready for the magic carpet ride to end quite yet either.

“I’m a person of faith. I truly believe that God has had his influence on this team, and has some special plans for us coaches and these boys on this trip to Louisiana. They believed in each other, had each other’s backs and embraced that team of destiny mentality of we’re not supposed to be here, let’s go win this thing by playing hard and having a good time,” McCann stated.

“It’s one of those never give up stories.  We appreciate the community support because it takes a lot of community support to get 11 families down to Louisiana, 16 hours away for about four of five nights to play baseball.  They’ve really been fantastic behind us, too.”