While a tremendous run by the Sanford 8U and 9U Babe Ruth All-Star teams and the Lake Mary Little League Junior baseball and softball teams saw their seasons come to an end, the Youth Baseball/Softball All-Star campaigns are far from over for Seminole County programs.
The weekend of July 11 saw the return to action for the four above teams and they were oh so close to advancing, but this past weekend saw a plethora of teams from Lake Mary Little League and Altamonte Babe Ruth take part in Sectional, State and Southeast Regional tournaments and most got off to a good start in their respective events and figure to be playing this coming weekend and beyond.
Sanford’s 9U All-Stars were the North Florida State Runner-Ups and earned a trip to the Southeast Regional Tournament in New Kent, Virginia.
And the team got off to a great start, jumping out to 6-run lead into the fifth inning against Georgia State Champion, Peachtree 9U, and holding on for a 13-11 victory.
Sanford then faced another Florida squad, Bartow All-Stars 9U, and ran into a buzzsaw, falling 11-1 in a run rule setback.
Heading into Pool Play, the locals earned a rematch against Bartow and it looked like the results would be the same as they trailed 4-0 entering the top of the sixth inning. But Sanford rallied for four runs to tie the game and force extra innings. In the top of the seventh, Sanford had the go-ahead run thrown out at the plate with one out on a grounder to short and Bartow got a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to get a walkout, 5-4, victory and end Sanford’s season with a 6-4 record.
The undefeated State Champion Sanford 8U All-Stars head to New Smyrna Beach for the Southeast Regional and kept the momentum going, rolling past Okeeheelee (Florida), 10-3, in their opening game and then carrying a 6-2 lead into the top of the sixth inning only to see Auburndale rally to tie the game. But Sanford answered with a walk-off run in the bottom of the sixth to win, 7-6, and advance to the Semifinals.
Sanford would face Arlington, Virginia, in the semifinals and advanced to the Tournament Championship Game with a 12-7 triumph.
But Sanford’s offense went flat in the finals and dropped a 12-0 decision to West Boca (Florida) and saw their its summer end with an impressive 9-1 record.
There was an anomaly for Lake Mary in the Junior Softball State Tournament in Crystal River as the girls never could find its rhythm and dropped two straight games, 21-1 and 10-4.
Actually, things were even weirder across town as the Lake Mary Junior baseball all-stars, a team made up mostly of players that won the Little League World Series in 2024, appeared to be cruising toward another potential World Championship, going 7-0, and outscoring its foes, 101-18, through those seven games.
Actually the Juniors were up 81-8 after defeating the Senior Bulldawgz, 19-0, and the turf Turkeys Summer 2026, 10-3, in State Pool Play.
Then things started to change. Facing Orlando’s Dr. Phillips LL Baseball All-Stars 2026 Juniors, in a game delayed by several hours by weather, Lake Mary got off to its usual big start, but then got into an error and walk plagued contest seeing DP cut a 12-3 deficit to just 12-10 before Lake Mary exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to win by the run rule for the sixth time, 20-10, late on Saturday night.
The locals then ran into an amazing pitching staff from the Keystone Little League (Tampa), which held Lake Mary hitless in winning the State Championship, 1-0. Lake Mary had the go-ahead run on this with only one out in the first inning, but never came close to scoring again, while KLL scored the game’s only run on a 2-out double steal in the fifth inning.
