
Photo courtesy of Cindy O’Dell.
Pictured left to right: (Back row) Drew Murkerson, Noah Smith, Dylan Hughes, Ian Johnigan, Camden Prothro, Weston Dow, Scott McFadden, Kevin Gray. (Front row) Carson McFadden, Camdyn Teague, Ian Campbell, Braydon Gerstenburg, Coleman Gray, Heath Teague, Josh Campbell.
The Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10 baseball team went 7-0 in the Grand Slam World Series this June in Panama City Beach, Florida. Fourteen teams from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi came to compete in the Grand Slam World Series.
The Hurricanes captured two big wins during the pool play round. Their first game was against Georgia’s East Cobb Stars. The final score of 7-5 that featured a triple play from first baseman Weston Dow and hits from Camdyn Teague, Camden Prothro, Drew Murkerson, Dylan Hughes, Ian Campbell and Noah Smith
The Canes’ second pool play game was a 9-7 final inning come-from-behind victory against Florida’s Lynn Haven Raptors. The Canes were led to victory with hits from Dylan Hughes, Noah Smith, Carson McFadden, Camden Prothro, Camdyn Teague and Weston Dow. The Hurricanes earned the third seed going into the double elimination tournament.
Dylan Hughes, Camdyn Teague and Drew Murkerson combined to throw 14 strikeouts in the first round tournament game that resulted in a 9-2 win against Georgia’s Team Demarini. Coleman Gray was solid behind the plate that proved to be a confidence builder for the pitchers throughout the tournament. Hit leaders for the game were Noah Smith, Dylan Hughes, Camden Prothro, Drew Murkerson, Ian Johnigan and Weston Dow. The Canes followed up with a 9-5 win over the Louisiana Thibodaux Heat keeping the bats hot with hits recorded by Ian Johnigan, Drew Murkerson, Ian Campbell, Dylan Hughes and Noah Smith.
Advancing to the quarterfinals showcased an impressive complete game shutout thrown by Camdyn Teague to beat the Alabama Show Stoppers 5-0. Coleman Gray, Camdyn Teague, Noah Smith and Weston Dow all barreled up big hits for the Canes. The Canes returned later that night for a game that featured a gem of a semifinal that was won with an intense battle and an impressive complete game pitching performance from Dylan Hughes that brought the Canes victory over the No. 1-seeded Mississippi Golden Spikes 8-5. That was complemented with the big bats of Ian Johnigan, Camden Prothro, Drew Murkerson, Dylan Hughes and Noah Smith all recording hits.
The World Series Championship Game was between two Alabama teams, the Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10 (6-0) and Husky Baseball Club (5-1-1) from Trussville, Alabama.
The Hurricanes fell behind early 7-0 but showed a champion spirit never giving up, and the Hurricanes’ bats ignited with all Hurricane players recording hits to beat Husky Baseball Club 18-9. Noah Smith led with a batting average for the entire tournament of .733. Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10 overall record for the 2015-2016 season was 30-15.
– Submitted by Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10.