By Stephen Smoot
He makes no excuses He shows no fear He just closes his eyes And listens to the cheers “The Greatest” sung by Kenny Rogers
They first had to fight the weather itself, starting at the tail end of a winter that would not leave and pushing through rains that came frequently, then long overstayed their welcome.
They fought against the challenge of forming a team of players who had, for the most part, never played together, then immediately had to perform at the highest level.
They fought their way back from defeat and disappointment, never losing confidence.
And then they stood on the diamond alone, holding their trophies as champions.
Yes, it’s been quite a summer for the Shinnston Little League.
After a competitive spring, Shinnston Little League had between 20 to 30 players eligible for the all-star team that would represent the area in the state tournament. Ally Maxwell, Board member and player mom, said of the players on that squad that “they never even played with each other. They only played against each other.”
That team came together on June 1. Through the month, they practiced nightly and supported area teams competing in other age brackets. As Maxwell shared, they had to gain confidence as they competed.
Shinnston entered the tournament as the regional runner-up because the top two regional finalists get to move on.
She explained “these are 10 and 11 year olds” and that they struggled at first to escape the analysis of what they were not to develop into what they could be. Even though, as Maxwell said “size does not mean you are a good player,” the players worried.
“Our team is not very big,” she said, then added “when you see them up against one of the other teams, you wonder how we can do this.” Additionally, the Shinnston squad does not rely heavily on travel ball players, some of whom play baseball year round to hone on building skills for a single sport.
They did it through pitching. Maxwell stated that the coaches focused on developing strong pitching as the formula for success throughout the spring into the summer.
To compete, all headed down Interstate 79 and US Route 19 to get to the tournament site in Beckley. Once there, organizers divided all teams into Mountaineer and Herd brackets. Shinnston had a first round bye and played their initial game of the week-long tournament on Sunday.
First, they faced one of the hometown favorites, a team from Mullens.
Tournament play for baseball and softball means having a pitching strategy. An arm serves as a limited resource. It only has so many pitches in it. Coaches must decide on the risk of preserving pitching resources for the full week versus getting that first win.
Mullens came out strong, scoring all of its runs in the first three innings and cruising to a seven to two victory. Being a doubleelimination tournament meant Shinnston remained in it, but now faced a much tougher road. Maxwell explained that teams have to play daily once they drop to the losing team bracket.
After rain delays, Shinnston next took on its first big city club, Martinsburg. The team from the Eastern Panhandle could not muster a run against the dominating hurlers from Harrison and went down three to zero. One of Shinnston’s dual aces, Ryder Spry, struck out 15 batters for the win while the other, River Miker, earned the save.
Next, Huntington put up a tougher battle, but also succumbed to Shinnston, six to five. This put Shinnston once again on a collision course with Mullens.
Mullens had gained a slender early lead on St. Albans, but lost it in the final innings to drop into the losing team bracket. As Maxwell said, “Mullens didn’t see the team we really were” in the first matchup and saw a near reversal of the original result as Shinnston took the game seven to one. A seven to three triumph over Hurricane put the 2025 version of the cardiac kids in the title game against St. Albans.
After defeating Mullens, St. Albans coach Rock Chandler described his squad thus to the Beckley RegisterHerald “They play hard. They never let up. They never quit. I’ve got two nine year olds playing on this 11 year old team.” He also said that he had four 10 year olds competing as well.
Shinnston dealt Spry against St. Albans with powerful effect. He got batters to strike out 13 times, giving him 28 for the tournament. He also drove out of the park the only two home runs all week, accounting for two of the three runs of the game.
Maxwell shared that the team took “some jitters” into the first game, but never lost the confidence they developed all year in themselves, their coaches, and their teammates.
She said of the year “they’ve given up their entire summer for this.” As they sacrificed, they also gained. They developed skills for their sport. They made friends for life.
And they earned a state title as well.
Next week, they take that to the Tournament of State Champions in Wilson, North Carolina. Maxwell gave them their instructions – now that they achieved their goal, just go have fun and see what happens.
The team has three scheduled games. On July 26, they play Virginia at 5:15, then Florida on the 27th, same time. On the 28th, they play South Carolina at 11:45 a.m.
