Here is a great story of hard work and determination. This young baseball team started out three years ago with six-year-olds making up the majority of the team. That first year, playing mostly against teams of 8-year-olds, they suffered a lot of losses and thus disappointment. They came back in the 2023 season as a bunch of seven-year-olds and won the district championship. This year the Peachtree 8U Rookie AllStars won the state championship in the Cal Ripken league, and the team also won the United States Specialty Sports Association Virginia Spring State Championships. In addition, they came in third in the six-state Southeast Region, which was only two wins short of going to the World Series.
The team had a phenomenal season in the Cal Ripken league with a 17-2 record and outscoring their opponents 272 runs to 26 runs across those 19 games. They shut out their opponents eight times. Several players had outstanding seasons at bat, including Caleb Rubin with 32 hits and a 0.681 batting average; Charlie Bowers with 38 hits, 24 RBIs and a batting average of 0.655; Brayden Keyton with 32 hits, 23 RBIs and a batting average of 0.627. Other sluggers with a season record of at least 20 hits and 20 RBIs include: Davis Junior (33 & 25), Reid Ross (30 & 20), Mick Armstrong (33 & 20), Auggie Watson (28 & 27) and Kannon Koser (21 & 24). The home run leaders include Mick Armstrong and August Reifsteck with two each for the season.
The Cal Ripken state championship game against Williamsburg was a nail biter. In the top of the third inning, the Crozet team scored two runs to take the lead 2-0, but Williamsburg came back in the bottom of the inning with three runs. The Crozet team was still down 2-3 in the top of the sixth inning with two outs, when Rubin smashed the ball into right field for a single. Reifsteck then came to the plate with two outs and a man on first and hit a two-run home run to put the team up 4-3. In the bottom of the sixth inning, fans were on the edge of their seats as Williamsburg loaded the bases with 2 outs. The win was secured as the batter smashed a ball into right center field where Watson made a phenomenal catch to secure the state championship. Reifsteck was named MVP for the state tournament with two HR’s and six RBI’s through the four games in the tournament.
