LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — Two youth baseball teams from Lincoln County are in the Diamond Youth Baseball World Series in Louisiana.
West Lincoln Optimist Club in Division 2 and Boger City Optimist Club in Division 1 are representing North Carolina.
This is the second time West Lincoln is reaching this milestone.
For Boger City, this is the first time in history they are reaching this achievement.
Boger City 12U “O” Zone team Head Coach Alex Bass grew up playing baseball for Boger City and has coached youth sports in Lincolnton for 20 years.
“To have a chance to go represent North Carolina, your state, and play in the World Series, I mean, that’s like a once in a lifetime thing,” Bass said.
We spoke with the team during a travel baseball tournament in Huntersville hosted by Top Gun Sports on July 20.
“This is a pre-tournament practice for us,” Bass said.
The team won the North Carolina Diamond Youth Baseball “O” Zone D1 state tournament first.
“We are the first to do it and very grateful because he played on that field when he was young and there’s never been a banner on the wall,” player Crew Morrison said.
In early August, the recreational league will head to Bossier City, Louisiana to compete in the DYB World Series.
“This is is great just to know that all my coaches, they played here when they were little. And it’s just amazing to think about,” player Easton Curl said.
Bass is rooting for West Lincoln, the other team in Lincoln County playing in the World Series in late July.
“That’s a pretty good feat to accomplish and is big for Lincoln County,” Bass said.
The Boger City 12U “O” Zone team is fundraising to offset the costs for families being on the road again.
“It’s a hard task. I mean we spent a week in Myrtle Beach and then now we’ve got to turn around in less than two and a half weeks and find a way to get 14 hours away,” Bass said.
Joe Heirigs, whose son Lucas is the catcher of the team, said his family budgets for him playing baseball throughout the year. However, this is a rare opportunity.
“You can never budget for going to the World Series because it’s not budgeteable. You you just never know when it’s going to happen. We’ve got some money put away, save for rainy day things. And for me, this is kind of a rainy day opportunity. Any help would make it a whole lot easier on the rest of the families as well,” Heirigs said.
Bass agrees any donations can go a long way to fulfill a dream come true.
“To put North Carolina on the jersey, it’s like a feat that these kids will live with. I mean, they’ll they’ll take this to the books their whole lives,” Bass said.
His team will be in Louisiana from August 1 through August 8.
They have set a goal of $20,000.
If you would like to donate, you can support them via GoFundme or Venmo @Bogercityboosters.
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