ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The Daphne National AAA All-Stars swept through the Dixie Youth District 7 tournament without a loss to advance to the state tournament in Athens.

Daphne National defeated Spanish Fort National 4-1 in the championship game Friday in Robertsdale to claim the Minors division title. Opening day ceremonies for the state tournament are set for Friday with play to begin Saturday.

Daphne NL manager Chris McCall said solid pitching from right handers Dawson Craven and Caleb Harlan helped key the 4-0 run at Garrett Park.

“Proud of all the kids. But can’t say enough about my pitchers and the job they did out on the mound,” he said. “But it took a team to win. Just had kids that played real hard. Big difference was pitching and defense. Tyler (Smith, at catcher) threw out three runners in the championship game. We were able to get some runs early, then survive with pitching and defense. They are excited. This is the first Daphne team to move on to the state tournament in awhile.”

Spanish Fort was the defending District 7 champion.

Daphne NL made it to the finals with wins of 9-5 over Fairhope American, 6-3 over Spanish Fort NL, 12-11 over Municipal American. The Spanish Fort NL team advanced with an opening 13-0 shutout over Saraland National, a 10-9 win over Fairhope National, then bounced back from the third-round loss to Daphne with another dramatic 10-9 win in the elimination bracket against Fairhope NL.

Craven got the start and Harlan closed with each working three innings on the mound for DNL. At the plate for DNL, Craven led off the game with a single and scored on a two-run homer by Christian Williams.

Daphne added two more runs in the top of the second inning when Jimbo Cassity singled in Taylor Smith and James Comerford for the early 4-0 lead.

SFNL scored in the bottom of the second when JoJo McLeod's RBI single drove in Chandler Passons from second. Jalen Hicks had two singles and a double, Brock Murphy, Von Seibert had one each and McLeod added another single.

Daphne also had basehits from Tyler Smith, Harrison Charlton, Harlan and another by Williams.

The Daphne team wore the letters TT over a gold ribbon on their batting helmets in memorial tribute to Tyler Trembley who died July 7. Trembley played baseball in the same age division, AAA (Minors), at Daphne's Lott Park.

The team is asking for sponsors and community support to help defray travel and lodging costs. For more information, contact Robin Charlton at 251-605-6976 or: suthernbell@bellsouth.net