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Earlier today the Troy 8U Darlings defeated Dothan 5 to 0 to win the Alabama state tournament.  The Troy Darlings now advance to the world series in Prince George, Virginia that will take place starting July 27.

Brooklee Kilpatrick got the win in the circle pitching 4 and a third innings of shutout softball.

Several Darlings had multiple hits.  Kilpatrick, Kinsley Cox, Kensley Wallace and Andi Smith each had two hits.  Collins Folmar, Zalaiya Reynolds, Libby Paul and Birdy Stephens all had one hit apiece.  Reynolds had two RBI in the game. Folmar, Wallace and Kilpatrick each had one RBI.

Coach Anthony Dixon commented after the win, “For the majority of this team this is back to back to back to back state championships for them.  A small group of them won a state title as five year old’s, a larger group won as six year old’s and the majority won last year as 7 year old’s and we won this morning so this is their fourth in a row state championship.”  Dixon added, “As you can see on the scoreboard we gave up zero runs today so I think over the tournament, over six or seven games, we may have given up in the teens in runs. The defense that we play was amazing, especially in an 8U game giving up zero runs is almost unheard of especially against a good team in Dothan.  Dothan has a really good team, we just played amazing today.”

The Dixie organization and the City of Troy provide some financial assistance to help offset some of the expenses involved with making the trip to Virginia. But the Darlings are now going into fundraising mode.  Dixon said, “Getting 12 to 13 families to Virginia to stay for hopefully 5 or 6 nights and then back home is going to be a large financial investment and so we’re trying to raise money to lower the burden on the families that are having to pay for this out of pocket to go support their daughters.”

If anyone wants to contribute you can contact any of the parents of the Troy 8U Darlings.

Mayor Jason Reeves said, “Dan Smith and his staff are world class and do a wonderful job when it comes to hosting events. These tournaments have a tremendous impact on the local economy and it’s very special when you can host and win.  Congratulations to Coach Dixon, the girls, staff and families for a great tournament.  Our 6U girls also did great and represented our community very well.  Our recreation staff will now reload, put on a tremendous firework display on Thursday and host State again beginning Friday.  We are so thankful for the community that provides the resources through our City Council to make all this possible and the championship caliber employees, volunteers and players that accomplish so much for Troy and Pike County.”