The Elevate Stars, a 13U baseball team with players from the Cascade and South Fulton area, recently won the USSSA AA World Series which took place from July 3 - July 7 in Panama City, Florida!  There were 21 teams in the tournament from 9 different states, but the Stars went into the tournament as the #1 seed, having just won the Georgia State Championship.  A list of teams and game results can be found on the USSSA website.

Brandon Moore was named Tournament MVP and Orlando Valree was named Offensive MVP, but there was no shortage of heroes. Centerfielder Josh Gemes made several big catches in the field, and Catcher Caleb Clark completed a huge double-play in an early round game, ending a potential rally by an opponent.  Jeremy Brown hit a single with two outs in the last inning of the quarter-final game, bringing in the winning run. The next day in the semi-final, MacKenzie Green pitched 5 innings and then scored the winning run. Tayari Albright pitched 11 innings throughout the tournament, including four innings in the championship game. Brandon "Bam" Sykes closed out two games on the pitcher's mound.  "This was truly a team effort," said Head Coach Richard Harris. "Everyone contributed."

Coach Harris has almost 20 years of coaching experience.  His hands-on experience comes from having coached all ages, from tee-ball to college, from having been trained and mentored by various coaches and MLB players, and from serving as an umpire for competitive travel baseball.  He considers his greatest accomplishment, having all 16 players on his 17U team to receive baseball scholarships.

The major sponsor of the team is Brannan Sports, and they too are excited and proud of the team's success.