July 28 - August 2, 2006
Legendary Mitch Stadium
Ceredo-Kenova Little League

Meet the 10 teams that participated in the
2006 Tournament of State Champions

Alabama - Phenix City American Little League (Phenix City, Alabama)
Florida - Citrus Park Little League (Tampa, Florida)
Georgia - Warner Robins American Little League (Warner Robins, Georgia)
Indiana - Greenwood Little League (Greenwood, Indiana)
Kentucky - St. Matthews Little League (Louisville, Kentucky)
North Carolina - Southwest Forsyth Little League (Clemmons, North Carolina)
South Carolina - Northwood Little League (Greenville, South Carolina)
Tennessee - Lexington Little League (Lexington, Tennessee)
Virginia - Southwestern Youth Association Little League (Centreville, Virginia)
West Virginia - Jefferson County Little League (Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia)

     In mid-June, 1,261 registered leagues began play in the Little League 9-10 Year-Old Baseball Tournament in ten eastern states, but only 10 of those were crowned a state champion and earned the right to advance to Ceredo-Kenova, West Virginia and Legendary Mitch Stadium for the second annual Tournament of State Champions, a celebration of "Hometown Little League" and "Hometown America" at its best.

     Teams arrived on Friday evening by buses, vans, and doughnuts (Phenix City, Alabama sold nearly 5,000 doughnuts as part of a fundraiser for their travel to tournament). Festivities began with words from former Major Leaguer Jeff Baldwin and college coach Phil Ratliff. Players went on a parade through the streets of Ceredo and Kenova, and made it to Dreamland just in time for a thunderstorm - which cancelled the swim for the second consecutive year.

     Opening ceremonies were held at 10 AM Satrurday morning as all team members and coaches were announced and presented with tournament gifts. Austin Clemmons and Bobby Graven, the two returning members from the St. Matthews, Kentucky squad that participated in the first Tournament of State Champions threw out and caught the ceremonial first pitch. All mothers in attendance were invited onto the field and presented a rose by their young ballplayers. A live performance of the national anthem signaled the official start of the tournament.

     Temperatures during the 2006 tournament were unusually hot, with the temperature breaking 100 degrees during two days of the tournament. However, the temperatures outside were not nearly as hot as the level of competition. In the first day of pool play, Florida's Citrus Park Little League turned a 4-3-6 triple play in the very first game to get out of a bases loaded-no out situation to preserve a 3-1 victory in the opening game against Tennessee. Alabama's bats were blazing hot as they blasted 14 hits while playing flawless defense in an 11-0 victory overe Indiana. North Carolina's Jacob Kennedy pitched six innings, hit a fourth inning grand slam, and drove in 5 RBI - a new tournament record - to lead North Carolina over Georgia, 6-3. Kennedy's new record for most RBI's in a single game lasted about an hour and a half as Kentucky's Bobby Graven blasted two home runs and drove in 7 in a 15-6 victory over West Virginia. Graven and West Virginia's Sean Spotts - who also hit two impressive home runs in the same game - combined to equal in one game the total number of home runs hit in the entire 2005 tournament.

     Sunday was dominated by team production as North Carolina's Southwest Forsyth Little League shattered nearly every team tournament record in their 19-0 shutout victory over Indiana. The middle three games on Sunday all finished with identical scroes of 7-5 and all would play significant roles in determining the eventual semifinal spots. South Carolina and Georgia both picked up victories but gave up valuable runs in tiebreaking scenarios, while Virginia clinched its pool with its 7-5 victory over Kentucky. Ethan Mayberry had the tournament's most brilliant pitching performance on the mound during Tennessee's 3-0 victory over a strong Alabama team under the lights in the nightcap.

     Eight teams started the final day of pool play with possible opportunities to advance to the semifinals. Georgia defeated a resilient Indiana team, 5-1 to start things off, doing their part in an attempt to advance. Florida defeated Alabama, 11-5, to clinch its pool as well as a spot in the semifinals. A 7-run fifth inning propelled Florida to victory and very well may have been the turning point for the entire tournament as Florida would outscore all opponents 28-0 from that point forward. The game of the tournament was the midday game as North Carolina's Tristan Comer and Tennessee's Montell Johnson were locked into a legitmate pitching duel with every eye in the tournament watching. North Carolina's Nick Adams dented the plate in the top of the first, and the 1-0 score would carry into the bottom of the sixth. Matthew Cagle, the leadoff batter, got on base with North Carolina's first error committed in the entire tournament. Mayberry reached with one out when Comer issed his first walk of the game, before Tennessee pitcher Montell Johnson knocked a walk-off three-run home run over the right field fence. With one swing of the bat, Johnson put his team into the semifinals, eliminated three teams from the championship round, knocked North Carolina from the ranks of the unbeaten, and reshuffled the seeding for the semifinal round. The evening session saw Bobby Graven hit a tournament record third home run in Kentucky's 4-0 win over South Carolina, and Virginia clinched the #1 seed and advanced to the semifinals as the lone undefeated team after pool play with an 8-2 win over West Virginia.

     Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee advanced to the tournament semifinals. In the matchup between Virginia and Tennessee, the players from the Volunteer State sent home the tournament's lone undefeated team with an impressive 11-4 victory. Ethan Mayberry went 3-for-3 with two home runs, the second of which must have been a rainmaker as the game did experience a 48 minute rain delay. Tennessee also poured it on Virginia thanks to four consecutive hits from substitutes off the bench. In the nightcap, Florida scored seven times in the second inning and added four more in the third as Kevin Merrell tossed a three hitter and fanned nine in the four-inning 11-0 win over North Carolina.

     The matchup which opened the Tournament of State Champions in the first game was also the one that would determine who would go home with the title. This time, Florida would leave no doubt as Michael McGuire pitched four shutout innings and the offense exploded for ten runs in four innings of work at the plate as the team from the Sunshine State posted a 10-0 win and claimed the Tournament of State Champions pennant.