Jackson County just misses title shot at World Series

Play got underway Friday at the Dizzy Dean 11-year-old World Series, being held at East Jackson Park in Nicholson.

Thirty-five teams took to the field in a round robin format, with eight teams winning pool play to advance to a double elimination tournament to play for the championship.

The Jackson County Force was the only local team to make the championship tournament. Other pool winners were the North Port Nationals from Alabama, North West from St. Petersburg, Florida, the Tallahassee Capitals from Florida, Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Fossil Park from Florida, Fulton, Mississippi and the Blast from Panama City Beach, Florida.

The other pool players, including the Jefferson Dragons and the Jackson County Bullets, went to a single elimination consolation bracket.

On Sunday, the double eliminations started among the pool winners, with the Jackson County Force falling to Tallahassee, the North Port Nationals defeating North West, Jeffersontown defeating Fossil Park and Fulton defeating Panama City.

Play continued on Monday, with Tallahassee defeating North Port and Jeffersontown defeating Panama City. Meanwhile, needing a win to keep their title hopes alive, the Jackson County Force defeated North West, then moved on to defeat Panama City to move to Tuesday play. That leaves Jackson County as the only Georgia team in the running for the title.

Meanwhile, Fossil Park defeated Fulton, and then fell to North Port late Monday.

The Jackson County Force started Tuesday by facing the defending title champs, the North Point Nationals. The Nationals ended the Force’s title hopes with a 4-3 win.

That meant either Tallahassee or North Point would face Jeffersontown for the title on Wednesday. Results were unavailable at press time.

Meanwhile, in the consolation brackets, the Jefferson Dragons found themselves out of the running early, as they fell to Acworth Monday morning. The Jackson County Bullets defeated New Hope Monday morning, then defeated Snow Hill to move to Tuesday play against East Brainerd.

The Bullets started Tuesday off with a victory over East Brainerd, moving them forward in the consolation bracket. But their tournament play came to an end with a loss to the Rohobeth Rays on Tuesday.
That leaves the Jackson County, Alabama team to face off against Rohobeth Wednesday. Results were unavailable at press time.

For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald, The Braselton News or The Commerce News.