Upstate baseball rivals come together for Senior League World Series

EASLEY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – While some high schoolers relax on summer break, a group of Upstate baseball rivals are coming together for the international tournament of a lifetime.

A parade of cars took players from 10 different Upstate high schools through Easley Wednesday evening and ended with a celebratory ceremony at Hendrick Honda to cheer them on to the Senior League World Series.

Clinton High School junior Luke Young is playing with this team for the first time.

“These guys are better than most,” Young said. “It’s almost like an all-star team with guys from the Upstate all joining one team to play together.”

Just like Young, Wren High School junior Greyson Austin is making friends with his rivals.

“It’s special, playing against them in playoffs or even just a normal game in high school and now getting to play with them,” Austin said. “You don’t get to do that every day. It’s just a really fun experience.”

“Baseball is the closest to life,” the Upstate Senior League team’s General Manager George Turmon said. “It started with groups of twos and threes, now I’m seeing them in groups of tens and twelves. They’re all in the same group talking. They get a chance to, what I call, each one teach one. So they get a chance to learn from each other.”

St. Joe’s Head Coach George Turmon’s players are not only learning from each other, but also from five other teams spanning the entire country and six international teams.

“It was really fun getting to talk to kids from Canada, and they’re just extremely nice and happy to be there,” Austin said. “Just meeting kids from across the country and the world. It’s just a really cool environment.”

The players also get a chance to take home souvenirs from the special scene.

“We have cards for them, like the little sports cards. They trade cards, they sign names,” Turmon said. “We’re all in the same hotel in the same place. They get a chance to talk and make friends from other countries, they even exchange jerseys. Believe it or not, some of those kids still communicate with each other.”

For tournament week, everyone speaks the universal language of sports.

The 21 games leading to a Senior League World Series champion will all be held at JB Owens Ballpark in Easley.

The Upstate host team and the worldwide challengers start play on Little League Night Saturday, July 27th.

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