Athlete Spotlight: Tyler Chadwick

Records fell one after another at the 2007 Dixie Youth "O" Zone World Series in Troy, Ala.

//

The Columbia County All-Stars, who won the World Series Championship as representative of Georgia, broke most of those records. Georgia claimed four World Series records as a team with 65 runs, 78 hits, 55 RBI and a .478 team batting average.

At the heart of the milestones was 13-year old Tyler Chadwick.

His teammates also did their parts. Ryan Shead picked up two wins on the mound. Taylor Glover went 11-for-15 from the plate while Clint Hardy followed with an 11-for-16 performance. Hunter Hubbard (.625) and Spencer Murray (.647) had two of the top on-base percentages of the tournament.

But no matter how impressive the hitting or pitching numbers were, no individual player performed better at both than Chadwick.

"He was just dominant on the mound," Georgia head coach Scott Klosinski said. "There were other boys who did a great job for us, but when you combine the hitting and the pitching it's got to be Tyler."

In 11 innings pitched, Chadwick won three games and struck out 25 batters at the 2007 Dixie Youth "O" Zone World Series. Both of those stats broke World Series records. He struck out 12 batters against Troy in the semifinals (another record) including eight straight strikeouts to the final eight batters he faced.

His fastball and curve were enough to retire some batters, but it was his slider that did most of the damage.

"It's supposed to be a curve. I grip it the same way, but instead of throwing over the top I drop down a little," he said. "(Georgia assistant) Coach (Dean) Glover taught it to me. He taught me how to throw strikes."

Despite the dominating performances on the mound, Chadwick said he still wasn't fully satisfied with his play. It seemed his game was missing one key aspect that any middle school athlete covets.

"I couldn't hit a home run," he said. "I couldn't get my pitch, and when I did I'd miss it. It was bad. It was frustrating to be the one to hit all those home runs at the state tournament, but nothing at the World Series."

Chadwick lit up opposing pitchers at the Georgia state tournament for six home runs in six days.

But entering the championship game at the World Series in Troy, he still hadn't homered.

All that changed with his first at-bat in the finals.

"He hit a bomb in the first for a 2-0 lead," Klosinski said. "That helped."

Georgia went on to win the game and championship.

Even with only one home run to his name, Chadwick still finished the tournament as one of the top Georgia hitters. He went 10-for-15 with two doubles and eight RBI.