8-10-year-old Northern baseball, three others capture District 8 titles

Four teams had the chance to clinch their division of the District 8 youth baseball and softball tournaments Tuesday. By the day’s end, all four made it happen.

The 8-10-year-old Northern baseball team, the 8-10 Northern softball team, the 10-12 Pioneer softball team and the Northern senior softball squad all won their respective tournaments on Tuesday. Entering Tuesday’s games, all three had perfect records in the double-elimination tournaments but proved they needed no wiggle room in their efforts to advance.

The Northern baseball squad was the first of the four to get the job done and did so in quite a big way.

Playing Harris County for the second time in the tournament, the Northern team went to work quickly. The Northern boys saw 16 batters come to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, putting up 11 runs in the process. Collin Freiberg, who was the starting pitcher for Northern, belted a home run for Northern’s 11th and final run of the frame.

Harris County managed hits of its own but was unable to overcome the damage of Northern’s big opening inning. Northern punched its ticket to the next round with a 14-4 victory.

“These boys came out here and practiced hard the last couple of weeks,” said Northern head coach James Freiberg, whose twin sons Collin and Carter are both on the team. “They came out here ready to play baseball and have some fun. The kids all played together as a team, and it was a great team win for us.”

Northern’s 10-run win seemingly set the tone for all the teams on the verge of moving on. 8-10 Northern softball defeated Harris County 14-4, 10-12 Pioneer softball beat Northern 18-7 and Northern senior softball topped Pioneer 6-2.

The four teams move on to their respective state tournaments, which all begin July 8. The 8-10 baseball tournament is in Chatham County, while all three of the softball tournaments are in Warner Robins.

As the 8-10 Northern baseball team prepares for its state run, Freiberg shared his appreciation for what his sons and the entire team have been able to accomplish.

“I’m a proud coach and a proud dad out here,” Freiberg said. “These boys have worked hard. I’m really just along for the ride.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 11:58 AM with the headline "8-10-year-old Northern baseball, three others capture District 8 titles."