VALDOSTA —
This week, Lowndes will host one of the largest summer baseball tournaments in the state.
Thirty-one teams, representing three different states, will be competing in the 15th annual South Georgia Diamond Brawl this week.
“We’ve got 31 teams in it. We’re real happy with that. I think it’s still probably the biggest tournament in South Georgia,” Lowndes head coach Danny Redshaw said. “It’s going to be good, solid summer baseball.”
The tournament begins today, with nine games, and lasts until Saturday. Valdosta’s varsity team will host Cairo at 5:15 p.m., while the VHS junior varsity squad will host Colquitt County’s JV at 12:45 p.m. Cook will play two games today on its home field, taking on the Jeff Davis Gold team at 12:45 p.m. and Crisp County at 5:15 p.m. Lowndes does not play until Thursday, when both its varsity and JV teams play two games.
The tournament is so big that six different sites will be used: Lowndes, Valdosta High, Valwood, Brooks County, Cook and Lanier County.
“There’s no way we could do the tournament without our other hosts,” Redshaw said. “There’s no way we could do the tournament without our three main sponsors, which are Wal-Mart, Steel’s Jewelry and Farmers and Merchants Bank. ... Those folks are what make it all possible.”
Lowndes will have three teams competing in the tournament. The Vikings’ varsity, junior varsity and ninth grade squads will all be playing. The JV and freshman teams will compete primarily against other junior varsity and freshman teams.
This will be Lowndes’ final week of summer baseball.
“We’ve got close to 50 kids playing summer baseball with us. We’ve been working them hard,” Redshaw said. “(We’re) trying to get ready for next year. ... We’re excited about the young kids we’ve got coming up, and we’re excited about the effort we’ve seen this summer.”
Valdosta has two teams competing, its Black team (varsity) and White team (junior varsity).
Cook, Brooks County, Berrien and Lanier County will all have teams playing in the tournament. Another local team that is competing is the Valdosta Fire, a summer baseball team comprised of local private school players.
Two teams will be coming from out of state to play. Chiles will drive across the state line from Tallahassee, Fla. to compete, while Aiken is driving all the way from South Carolina for the tournament.
The other teams playing in the tournament are: Colquitt County, Lee County, Jenkins, Walnut Grove, Thomas County Central, Coffee, Cairo, Statesboro, Camden County JV, Jeff Davis and Crisp County. Some of those schools are bringing two teams, and Statesboro will have three teams.
“We’ve got some teams from (other areas),” Redshaw said. “There’s some quality teams here.”
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David Wortham (2) and the Lowndes Vikings will be competing in the South Georgia Diamond Brawl this week. southernphotos.smugmug.com
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31 teams competing in South Georgia Diamond Brawl
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