Harris County Little League wins the 12U District 8 Tournament

Harris Co. Little League District 8 Champions (Richard Holdridge)

By Richard Holdridge

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WLTZ) -

This article first appeared in the August issue of Chattahoochee Valley Living.

Looking to go back-to-back in the Southeast Region Tournament, Harris County Little League knows that last season, they were two wins away from reaching the Little League World Series. This year, they won the District 8 Tournament, which was held at Pate Park in Cataula from June 17-26. Five teams from District 8 participated in a double elimination tournament, including Harris County, Northern, Pioneer, Peach, and American.

Harris County was the number one seed and awaited the winner between Northern and Peach. Northern Little League, who won District 8 in 2021, defeated Peach Little League 14-1 in the first game. Pioneer Little League was able to secure the victory over American Little League with a score of 8-1 in the next game. On Tuesday, June 20th, Northern had the biggest upset of the tournament as they defeated Harris County 4-3.

District 8 Champions (Richard Holdridge)

In the loser’s bracket, American defeated Peach 11-0. When they faced Harris County, they were eliminated from the tournament as Harris County won the game 11-0. Northern would go on to defeat Pioneer 6-2 to advance to the District 8 Championship Game. Meanwhile, Harris went on to defeat both American and Pioneer by a score of 11-0. Now the stage was set: Northern vs. Harris County in the Championship Game on Saturday, June 24. If Harris County were to win District 8, they would have to beat Northern twice. They were able to defeat Northern 15-0 in 3 innings, thanks to a walk-off grand slam by Jacob Gilstrap. The two teams would square off on Monday for a winner-takes-all matchup. The story of this championship game was Harris County Pitcher Fuller Carver, who pitched a 6-inning complete game no-hitter as Harris County defeated Northern 5-0, winning their second straight District 8 championship.

“I’m proud of what these guys did and what they accomplished, losing the first game, fighting back all the way through the loser’s bracket last Monday,” said Harris County Little League Head Coach Chris Gilstrap. “We knew we were capable, and for a third year in a row for our group to finish this thing out is very special.”

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