Auburn Orange opens AAA World Series today vs. Florida

By Mike Szvetitz
Sports Editor, Opelika-Auburn News
Published: August 3, 2008

Sometimes a loss is just what a team needs.

The Auburn Orange Dixie Youth AAA (9-10) All-Star team is no different.

Losing a game the state tournament, only to battle back out of the losers’ bracket to win the championship and advance to the World Series was, what Auburn manager Van Northcutt says, one of the best things that could have happened to his young team.

And today, the Auburn Orange, which is now Team Alabama, will embark on another quest as the Dixie Youth AAA World Series begins in LaGrange, Ga. Auburn will open up the first round of the double-elimination tournament at 2:30 p.m. against Florida.

“We’re excited,” Northcutt said. “We’ve really come together as a team and are ready to compete at the World Series.”

And to think, it almost didn’t happen.

After cruising through the sub-district and district tournaments without a loss, the squad of 12 Auburn All-Stars found itself in the state tournament in Clanton as the favorite.

That was until it ran into a tough Taylorville American team in the second game of the event and lost, 13-5.

Taylorville took advantage of 10 Auburn walks and four errors to cruise to victory, giving Auburn Orange its first loss of the entire All-Star season.

“We just didn’t play our brand of baseball and it took its toll on us,” Northcutt said of the loss in the state tournament.

But what it also did was refocus the Auburn team.

The All-Stars regrouped and rattled off three consecutive wins out of the losers’ bracket to make the championship game. One of those three wins was a rematch against Taylorville, in which Auburn won, 3-2.

By beating Taylorville, which was previously the only undefeated team in the tournament, Auburn forced a three-way tie heading into the championship round. Auburn, Taylorville and Dothan National all had a loss. By Dixie Youth rules, the two teams who didn’t have a bye in the tournament flip a coin to see who receives the bye into the championship game. The loser of the coin toss and the team who already had a bye, play a play-in game.

Since Taylorville had a bye earlier in the state tournament, Dothan and Auburn flipped the coin.

Auburn won, forcing Dothan to play Taylorville in the play-in game. Dothan ended up beating Taylorville, 8-2.

Less than an hour later, Dothan and Auburn were playing for the state championship and the right to represent the state of Alabama in the Dixie Youth AAA World Series.

Auburn didn’t blink, beating Dothan National, 8-2, in the final, securing its spot in this week’s World Series.

“I think that loss was good for us,” Northcutt said. “It showed them that it’s never over and they can come back and win. And I think that will help us (in the World Series) if we get in that situation again, we’ll know how to handle it.”

With the World Series being so close — a 40-mile trip up Interstate 85 — Auburn Orange is hoping that’ll be an advantage. The team will commute back and forth to LaGrange, attending all the functions and games, but sleeping at home every night.

“We spent last week in a hotel and the kids got to experience what it was like to play away from home and all that,” Northcutt said. “And I’m glad they got that experience. But with the World Series being so close, I see that as a plus for us. We’ll get to sleep in our own beds every night. And we’re hoping people from Auburn will drive up and give us a good crowd.”

Northcutt says there isn’t one superstar on his team this year, and all the success they’ve had has come from his players playing as one unit, instead of a bunch of individuals.

“Everybody has stepped forward to do their part,” Northcutt said. “We’ve get a very good team effort every game. There are no superstars. Everyone does his best and looks to the other to make the team the best that it can be.”

| 737-2513