Troy enjoys successful tourney season
Published 6:58 pm Wednesday, August 4, 2010
With the Troy Junior Dixie Boys’ elimination from the World Series Monday, the recreation baseball tournament season officially came to an end in Troy.
While the season may have ended on a down note, it was another successful summer for the teams representing the city of Troy on the field of play.
Two teams won state championships, as the Junior Dixie Boys and Pre-Minors both won state championships, while the Belles won their district championship and finished one win away from a state title and World Series berth.
“We’re very proud of our girls and our boys,” said Troy Parks and Recreation director Dan Smith. “Every year we feel like we have a quality recreation season, and that just helps us to have the success we have had.’
Troy’s continued success in tournament baseball has helped the city to develop a reputation for excellence on the diamond. Smith said he had recently been told of an interaction between a Troy resident and a couple from South Carolina that illustrated that reputation.
“I had a conversation with a man just the other day who said he had met a couple from South Carolina at Wal-Mart, and they were traveling to Dothan of the Junior Dixie Boys World Series,” Smith said. “He said the man asked him how Troy managed to get a team in a World Series in some age group almost every year.”
Smith said the man’s response to the South Carolina couple was an accurate one.
“What he told the man from South Carolina, and I think this rings true, is we have a tradition of parents, kids, the recreation department and the community working together and having a great relationship,” Smith said. “Either way, I just thought that was a great compliment to Troy and I think it shows that Troy has name recognition in tournament baseball and softball.”