WINTERVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – In today’s Pepsi Sports Spotlight we are showing off a baseball team from Winterville who are this year’s Southeast Regional and State Champions.
The Winterville 12u All-Star baseball Little League is a rec team from North Carolina. Each of the players has only known each other for a matter of weeks, however, their assistant coach Cody Godley says that’s what makes them more impressive.
“These guys have been together for four or five weeks and they have really gelled over the past couple of weeks so I think that is what has led to a lot of success,” Godley said.
Connor Brooks is a shortstop and pitcher and he says what he loves most about playing on the team.
“We believe in each other, everybody believes in me and I believe in everybody else,” Brooks said.
The players on the team show tremendous passion for the sport. Phillip Kuenzi says the positions he plays give him a lot of confidence.
“Second, I just get a lot of weak ground balls so it is hard to make errors and pitching I love striking out people,” Kuenzi said.
Coach Godley says a big factor that helps the players succeed is getting them together whenever possible. He says what helps them build chemistry and camaraderie on and off the field.
“We have spent a lot of time together over the past couple of weeks and we are going to continue to do that and like I said these guys have built friendships that I think are going to last a long time so that has really sparked the wins that we’ve had and it will continue to do that,” Godley said.
The coaches have loved the game for a long time and they see that love in a lot of their players. To them, this is a strong group that never quits. The team went to Branson Missouri to try and bring home the 2024 Cal Ripken World Series Championship.
The Winterville 12u All-Stars say they are thankful for their sponsors and family members always there supporting them and if anyone would like to support they can reach out through their Facebook page.