Blacksburg Wins Coveted World Series Sportsmanship Award

August 12, 2007, Madison Heights, VA --- At about 3 PM on Saturday, the call came in. Blacksburg Baseball was notified that via unanimous decision, they had won the coveted World Series Sportsmanship Award. Blacksburg rounded up as many of the team as they could and headed for Madison Heights. South Carolina won the title game in beating Louisiana 4-3. After the game, the Commissioner of Dixie Youth Baseball, Wes Skelton, announced that several World Series records had been broken:

Tyler Romanik (South Carolina) --- RBIs in a single game (9), broke the previous record of 7.
Tyler Romanik (South Carolina) --- RBIs in the tournament (23), broke the previous record of 14.
Tyler Romanik (South Carolina) --- Grand slams in the tournament (2), broke the previous record of 1.
South Carolina --- Total runs scored in the tournament (78), broke the previous record of 66.

After Louisiana received their runner-up awards and South Carolina received their championship awards, Wes Skelton announced to the standing room only crowd that Blacksburg had won the Sportsmanship award. In his announcement, the Commissioner stated that, "Dixie Youth Baseball views the Sportsmanship Award as an equal to the Championship Award." Typically, the team photo of the Sportsmanship Award winner is printed in the upcoming year's Dixie Youth Baseball rulebook.

Manager Mike Goforth was unable to attend due to VT's inter squad football scrimmage. Assistant Coach Tracy McCoy accepted the trophy on behalf of Blacksburg. "It's a great feeling," said McCoy. "I think this trophy says a lot about our team, our organization, and our fans." League President Don Gresh added, "We've come a long way in eight years. To be recognized by the national organization for our program and how we represent the sport of baseball, is the ultimate compliment. We do all that we can to make things first class for the kids and their families, and we don't cut any corners. We've got great people and everyone works very hard throughout the year as an all volunteer organization. Winning this award is what it's all about...Doing things the right way and being recognized for it. All of Blacksburg and Montgomery County should be proud to have a group of citizens recognized in a national forum."