Shelby County Today

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The 2023 Dixie Youth Regional World Series kicked off festivities with a massive opening ceremony in Center High School’s Roughriders Stadium. An estimated crowd of over 5000 attendants filled the seats. There are 50 teams in Center from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia. There will be over 800 players and coaches along with their families coming into the city. The divisions being hosted in Center are T-ball, 6U Coach Pitch, 7U Coach Pitch, 9U and 11U. Center has a host team in each division. And games will begin Thursday morning, July 20, 2023. Each team is guaranteed to play 5 games during the 5-day event which will end tournament play on Sunday.

July 12, 2023 - (Photos courtesy Tasha Jones) - The Shelbyville 12-and-under Dixie Baseball team has made it to the World Series! Not only will the team now have the opportunity to compete in Ruston, Louisiana on July 27 - August 1 for the Dixie World Series, they did it by defeating every team they ran into through District, Regional and on the State level.

“They have played some good baseball this summer,” said Tasha Jones, assistant coach. “They have not lost a game.”

The team is one of only three teams to advance to the World Series out of Shelbyville Youth Sports, and they’re one of two teams to go undefeated through District, Regionals and State, also out of Shelbyville Youth Sports.

Jones commented there have been games where it almost looked like they weren’t going to make it, but the team would instead battle back through and come out back on top.

The team has been regularly conditioned and is well acclimated to the heat as they practice at least three times a week on top of their regular game schedule, preparing them for the continued onslaught of slummer heat they will likely face in Ruston.

Up until recently the team’s head coach was John Harbison; however, before the first game of regionals Harbison had a health complication that forced him to step down as manager of the team.

The coaching staff includes Matt Williams, Head Coach; Shea Williams, Assistant Coach; Tasha Jones, Assistant Coach; and John Harbison, Honorary Coach.

A fundraiser was planned to help get this team on the road, but it doesn’t appear that’s going to be as necessary as originally expected.

Jones commented on the generous support the team has received, “The community has really stepped up and most of our businesses have all reached out and said, ‘we want to help sponsor y’all, what can we do to help y’all get there?’”

All of the contributed funds help the players families pay the exceptional financial cost to make it to Ruston, pay for uniforms, hotel accommodations, and meals, amongst other things.

The Dragons competed in seven games at state competition and the lineup of games resulted in Shelbyville vs. Troup, 6-4; Shelbyville vs. Frankston, 10-6; Shelbyville vs. Tri-Cities, 6-0; Shelbyville vs. Troup, 11-1; Shelbyville vs. Tri-Cities, 8-0; Shelbyville vs. Dekalb, 6-5; and Shelbyville vs. Dekalb, 16-8.

See the 2023 DVB Division II “O”Zone World Series Bracket below:

Click above to view bracket

The team roster is as follows:

Positions played
#00 Tate Obregon - pitcher, 3rd base
#9 Easton Jones - pitcher, 2nd, short stop, 3rd, 1st, center field
#16 Braylon Williams - pitcher, 2nd, short stop
#27 Daylon Smith - pitcher, 1st, catcher
#23 Gavin McDonald - pitcher, short stop, catcher
#7 Cole Riggs - center field, right field
#6 Brennan Kilpatrick - pitcher, right field, center field
#4 Dallas Parker - left field, right field
#3 Levi Greer - left field, right field
#24 Bradlee Ivey - right field, left field
#99 Chase Harbison - catcher (primary)

Coaches: Manager Matt Williams
Assistant Coach: Shea Williams
Assistant Coach: Tasha Jones
Honorary Coach: John Harbison

July 11, 2023 - Center Little League Football workouts started Monday, July 10 at Portacool Park. Workouts will be held Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays from 5:30pm until 6:30pm.

If you haven't registered your child, bring birth certificates - it's not too late to sign up! Teams are age 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12. Teams are coached by Coach Baron Horton, Coach Jamie Jackson, Coach Dedrick Williams, Coach Lakeith Cotton, and Coach Justin Garrett.

Let's start out great this year; we've got unfinished business.

Thursday, June 29, 2023 –

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Shelbyville Lady Dragon sophomore athletes Taylor Jones and Lanie Bass have been named among the top 50 Class 2A softball athletes by the Texas Coaches Association. The teammates were on this year’s SHS team which went 25-16-1 and finished as the final team left from Shelby County when they lost to Como-Pickton, by a 4-0 run score, on May 25 in the Region III Final, State Quarterfinal round. Bass and Jones also received first team recognition in All District 22 selection this season.

Besides softball Taylor Jones cheers, plays basketball, volleyball and runs cross-country. Lanie Bass cheers as well. Jones plays shortstop and helps with pitching duties. Bass pitches and occasionally plays first or second base when called on. Both players are unsure at this early stage what they will major in or where they might attend college.

This season the Lady Dragons went 8-4 in District 22 2A and went into the playoffs as the number 2 seed from the conference. Jones stated, “We learned a lot this season. After we lost to Timpson we decided we needed to take things more seriously we felt that was a game we could have won.” “Bass added, “After one loss we decided to come out on our own on weekends and do some hitting. After we got past Lovelady, in the first round, we felt really good about our chances.”

Shelbyville Head Softball Coach Ryan Mason said, “Our gameplan is to be selfless and to take the teams we face seriously. When you have 14 young ladies with different personalities together for 150 days, and no personality conflicts, there is a special chemistry.” Mason will begin his third year as head coach at Shelbyville this coming school year. He started his carreer with four years as an assistant at Joaquin after graduating from Stephen F. Austin. He attended high school at Athens and Alto ISD.

The Lady Dragons have almost all their players returning on a team who has proven themselves to be hard workers on and off the field. Talent and high hopes are rightly in good supply for Shelbyville’s next softball season.