- September 21, 2024
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Palm Coast Little League's junior all-star team. Courtesy photo
Dalton Roberts hits a ball during a game. Courtesy photo
Ben Apfelbach throws a pitch during a game. Courtesy photo
Palm Coast's junior team beat Mims for the section title. Courtesy photo
Palm Coast Little League's junior all-star team. Courtesy photo
Jason Roberts first got involved with Palm Coast Little League in 2010, but has been around his current group of boys since 2015.
They were all 9- and 10-year-olds, and his son, Dalton Roberts, was in the group, as well.
He’s watched them grow, and he’s watched them become more skilled. He’s watched them win, and he’s watched them lose.
“You really get to know them,” Roberts said. “It’s fun to watch them turn into baseball players. When we first started with them, there weren’t a whole lot of fundamentals going on. But as they’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten into travel baseball, and that’s helped them get better.”
That first year together, the all-star team lost the district title to DeLand. But they won the district in 2016 and even went to states in 2017. Last season, they won the district — but got blown out in the sectional tournament.
Now in the junior division, which comprises kids ages 13 and 14, Palm Coast’s squad approached the all-star season with a vengeance.
There is no district tournament for the juniors, so their first game was at sectionals.
They played a controlled game against St. Augustine, a team they’re familiar with, on July 13 and won 13-10. Later that night, they squared off against Mims.
Palm Coast was down 2-1 early and fell behind 5-1 after a three-run inning by Mims in the top of the fifth.
“And then we just exploded,” Roberts said. “Everyone was hitting the ball.”
Palm Coast scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth. Dalton Howell closed the game on the mound, as Palm Coast won 9-5 to advance to the state tournament.
“These guys don’t give up,” Roberts said. “They always battle. That’s been the trademark of the team this season.”
Outfielder Brayden Hart provided some of the spark in that miraculous fifth inning with a 2 RBI single.
After what happened at last year’s sectional tournament, he was surprised his team got to play at states.
“If you would have told us we were going to states at the beginning of the season, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said. “But we’ve got great coaches who are out to help us. They’re making us better baseball players and better people.”
States didn’t go exactly as planned, however.
Palm Coast lost both of its games on Saturday, July 20, in Merritt Island. Palma Ceia won the first game 15-0, and Viera, the eventual state champions, defeated Palm Coast 9-3.
“We didn’t have the results we were looking for, but Palm Coast has come so far the last few years,” Roberts said. “It used to be unheard of that a team would go to states. But you’re starting to see, in baseball and softball, that the level of competitiveness has improved dramatically. There’s been a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make that happen. We are heading in the absolute right direction.”
