Dixie Youth Baseball tournaments coming to Clarkton, Elizabethtown next month

ELIZABETHTOWN — Dixie Youth Baseball players will be coming to Clarkton and Elizabethtown along with their families to compete for state championships next month.

The tournaments get going on July 3 when Bladen County Dixie Youth Baseball hosts what is known as the Division 1AA tournament starting July 3 and ending July 6. Elizabethtown Dixie Youth Baseball will host what is known as the Division 1 and Division 2 Majors tournaments in Elizabethtown; D2 starts on July 16, and D1 on July 17, and each ends about a week later.

During a meeting Tuesday of the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Mark Gillespie and Kyle Bostic with the Elizabethtown DYB explained what the local league has planned and how chamber members can participate.

“This is a program that is very near and dear to our hearts,” Bostic said. “Last year we were not able to play during COVID.”

Bostic said that the number of players is down this year with around 288 players and 66 volunteer coaches. There will be 22 teams and each team has three volunteer coaches. Bostic went on to say that those players will most likely bring in their families to watch them play. So there will be hundreds of visitors to the area.

“This is a tremendous amount of work,” Bostic said. “We have a better opportunity to show off our home and to show off our community.”

The hope is that the upcoming visitors will invest in the local business and help the economy in the area thrive over the course of a week.

Bostic and Gillespie both agreed that, in order to make this happen, they will need about 100 volunteers to help out. They need people in the concession stands, making visitors feel welcome, making goodie bags, etc.

“They are bringing in money and they’re going to spend it,” Bostic said.

Business owners are welcome to buy ads in the baseball programs that will be handed out. In order to make this event happen, they have to send $14,000 and they hope to make it through the ads in the programs.

“The importance of this event is that our kids are going to go to the state tournament and it’s a highlight for these kids to try to win,” Gillespie said. “When they leave here, they will go to Mississippi to try to win the World Series. That’s a big thing to represent your state.”

Gillespie said that these tournaments help these kids build confidence while learning how to deal with success and failures. Plus, they learn how to work together as a team.

“We asked to host the tournament,” Gillespie said. “We’re doing it to show the town of Elizabethtown and White Lake that we appreciate them. They have always supported us in everything we have done.”

Those wishing to volunteer for the tournaments in Elizabethtown can contact Terri Dennison with the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce at 910-862-3371, or by email at [email protected].