By Brian Hoffman
In youth ballgames in the past week the Salem AAA All-Stars won the District 7 baseball championship while the Roanoke Area Youth Softball Association(RAYSA) championships wrapped up at Darrell Shell Park.
Green Hill Park in west Roanoke County, and the Glenvar Youth Boosters, hosted the District 7 minor and major baseball playoffs from Friday through Monday. Franklin County won the O-Zone championship, North Roanoke won the Division 2 AAA, or Minor, championship and Salem won the Division 1 AAA championship. O-Zone teams are for 11-12 year olds and AAA teams are for 10 and under.
The Division 1 AAA tournament included Salem, Glenvar and Craig County in a double elimination format. Salem slaughter ruled Craig County on Friday night and Glenvar eliminated Craig with a win Saturday. On Sunday Salem defeated Glenvar, 15-5.
On Monday Glenvar needed to beat Salem to stay alive and force a third game, and the Glenvar team got off to a good start with a 1-0 lead after one inning. However, the Salem bats heated up and the Salem All-Stars won going away, 11-1.
Next up are state tournaments. Salem and North Roanoke will head to Martinsville for the AAA
Dixie state tournament while Franklin County heads to South Hill for the O-Zone state. Glenvar’s coach-pitch all-stars will also play in a state tournament at South Hill, and all state tournaments are scheduled to begin on July 8.
RAYSA champions were decided at Darrell Shell Park last week and it was a South County sweep. South won the 10-U, South County Red went undefeated in the 13-U and South County defeated Franklin County to win the 17-U.
Salem and Glenvar had teams in the 10-U bracket. Salem beat Vinton in the opener but then lost the next two to North Roanoke and South County. Glenvar lost their first two to Vinton and South County.