By Kevin Eckleberry

SUWANEE - It was an amazing ride.

For the Troup American all-stars, a journey that began in June with the district tournament ended on a sweltering Saturday morning in the championship round of the Dixie Youth Baseball 9-10-year-old state tournament.

The team fell short, with Perry securing the state title with an 11-7 victory, but Troup head coach Perry Prather said there were no regrets.

“Nobody every expected this team to go as far as we did,” Prather said. “It’s been a great experience. They will never forget it.”

Troup stormed into the best-of-three championship series having not lost a game in district or state play.

In the state tournament, Troup went 5-0 in its pool to cruise into the championship showdown opposite Perry, which had to survive a play-in game with Lee County on Thursday.

Perry won Friday’s game 12-8, and it finished off the series sweep with Saturday’s victory.

In the final game, Troup surged to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on John Crawford’s three-run home run, but Perry rallied.

Prather said he felt it might be his team’s day when “we jumped out with that home-run ball. I thought that was big.”

Perry, though, stormed back to take a 7-3 lead through two innings.

Troup rallied for three runs of its own in the top of the third, but Perry controlled things the rest of the way.

Prather said his hitters had trouble adjusting to the pace of the pitches thrown by Perry’s hurlers.

“They threw junk pitches, and we weren’t ready to him them,” Prather said.

One player who had no trouble making solid contact during the tournament was Crawford, whose home run was his third of the week.

“John Crawford crushed it,” Prather said.

After Perry ripped off seven unanswered runs, Troup fought back in the third.

Colson Blackburn and Seth Prather each had RBI singles in the inning, and Crawford scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a base hit.

After Perry went up 11-6, Troup plated its final run in the fifth.

David Sweat singled and later scored when Jarred Helton reached on an error.

Still down by four in the sixth and final inning, Troup’s Luke Hilderbrand reached on an error, but he was stranded on base.

Prather said he appreciated the hard work put in by his assistant coaches, Cole Blackburn and Charles Sweat, who both “worked their butts off. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Prather also said the support of the players’ families was tremendous.

“I can’t say enough about the parents and their support,” Prather said.

He also expressed appreciation for the people who donated money for the team’s stay at state, which included a week’s worth of nights at a hotel.

“They helped the kids have a great time,” Prather said.

All but one of the players, Charles Crawford, will be moving up to the 11-12-year-old age group, and Prather said this year’s experience will benefit the players in future all-star tournaments.