The National Board of Dixie Youth Baseball has selected Moore County Dixie Youth Baseball as the host league for the 2011 Dixie Youth Baseball Majors/AAA World Series. The tournament will be played at Hillcrest Park beginning on August 13, 2011.

This will be the third World Series held in North Carolina. Leland hosted the 1979 Series and Cumberland County hosted the 1985 Series.

Billy Ransom, Moore County Parks and Recreation Director, and Beverly Stewart, with the Moore County Visitors Bureau, made an excellent presentation to the National Board of Directors in Laurel, Mississippi (site of the 2009 World Series) on Monday. The vote to award the Series was unanimous.

Carey Wrenn, NCDYB State Director, indicates he wants to involve all of the North Carolina Dixie Youth leagues in this event.

More information will follow throughout 2009 and 2010.

Larry Rudisill has been elected by North Carolina leagues as National Director to serve the 3 remaining years of the term of the late Buddy Burney, who died on January 10, 2009.

Rudisill defeated Terry Lanning (District 5 Director) by a 25-23 vote margin.

Rudisill previously served as the Assistant State Director for NC. No decision has been made as to whether a new Assistant State Director will be appointed.  

Final update:

South Carolina scored 10 runs in the top of the 6th inning to win the 2009 Dixie Youth World Series over North Carolina 12-9. Kevon Perkins pitched a masterful game for NC, but could not pitch the last inning due to the 13 inning limit rule. Shelton Perkins hit a      2-run home run in the 5th innning to give North Carolina a 9-2 lead going into the final innning. We congratulate the Leland team on representing NC as an outstanding Champion.  

Update as of 2pm on 8-13-09:

North Carolina (Leland DYB) moves into the championship game with a 4-0 win over Tennessee. Chri Graham hit a home run to spark the team to victory. NC will play SC tonight at 7pm Central Time for the Championship.  

Update as of 11:30pm on 8-12-09:

Leland, the Majors champions from NC, loss their first game of the 2009 Dixie Youth World Series to Tennessee by a score of 5-2. NC will play Tennessee again at 11am Central Time on Thursday. The winner will meet South Carolina, who defeated the Host team and also drew the bye into the championship game, at 7pm Central Time on Thursday.  

Update as of 11:00pm on Wednesday, August 11:  

NC remained undefeated with a 7-4 win over South Carolina on Tuesday night. Kevon Perkins hit a 2-run home run to lead North Carolina, allowing them to be the only undefeated Majors team in the Series. NC will meet Tennessee at 8pm (Central time) on Wednesday.

North Carolina won the first two games of the 2009 Dixie Youth World Series. The defeated Florida 11-1 and Laurel 10-0 in their first two games. 

West Robeson National, the AAA champions from NC, won their first game over Texas by a score of 8-7. However, they dropped a heart-breaker to Mississippi in 8 innings by a 8-3 score. They were handed their second loss by Tennessee by a 14-4 score on Monday.

Leland won the 2009 DYB State Tournament with a 9-3 over Mt. Holly on Saturday. Leland will represent North Carolina in the 2009 Dixie Youth Majors World Series in Laurel, Mississippi beginning on August 8. This group of players won the State AA Championship in 2005 and the State AAA Championship in 2007.

Mt Holly won the Charles Lennon Sportsmanship Award and was the State Runner-up in their 1st trip to a DYB State Tournament.  

West Robeson National won the 2009 NCDYB State Tournament with a 16-5 win over Dunn in Clarkton on Saturday. West Robeson will represent North Carolina in the 2009 Dixie Youth AAA World Series in Laurel, Mississippi beginning on August 8.

 South Columbus won the Ken Britt Sportsmanship Award.

North Granville DYB (Oxford) won the 2009 NC DYB O-Zone State Tournament in Reidsville on Tuesday with a win over Eden YMCA. Oxford will represent North Carolina in the 2009 Dixie Youth O-Zone World Series in Texarkana, Arkansas beginning on August 1.

North Stanly won the Sportsmanship Award.  

Oxford won the 2009 NC DYB AA (coach pitch) State Tournament with a win over Dallas in Eden on July 18.

Oxford, Dallas and West Stanly will advance to the 2009 DYB Region 1 Tournament in Goodlettesville, TN on July 24. Note: Oxford and Dallas finished tied for 3rd place in the Region 1 tournament in Goodlettesville.

Southport-Oak Island won the Buddy Burney Sportsmanship Award.

Pictures will be uploaded as soon as they are available.  

Oxford and Dallas finished tied for 3rd place in the 2009 DYB Region 1 AA (coach pitch) tournament in Goodlettesville, TN. Oxford lost 12-9 to the Championship team, Goodlettesville National in the semi-finals and Dallas lost to runner-up Goodlettesville American in the semi-finals.

Please see the "Handouts" section for the results of the DYB Region 1 AA Tournament in Goodlettesville, TN.

North Carolina will be following the AA rules posted on this website for its 2009 AA tournaments. These are slightly different from those in the DYB rulebook.

The National Board has always let the State Boards set the AA rules for their state. However, with the addition of the Regional Tournaments this year, the National Board designed rules to be used in the Regional Tournaments and placed those rules in the DYB rulebook. It was understood that State Boards could continue to use their rules in District and State Tournaments, which is what NCDYB did.

This has caused some confusion. This will be corrected prior to 2010.

I apologize for any problems caused by this. However, this was clearly communicated at every District Workshop held in February and March of 2009 in North Carolina.

Some of the differences are:

NC requires 13 players where the National allows 11-13 players.

NC uses the halfway mark between bases to determine whether a runner advances or returns to a base when the umpire calls time out. The national rule allows for runners to advance if they are not in contact with a base when time is called.

NC allows unlimited runs to be scored in the 6th inning, n order to allow a team to "catch up". The national rules do not, thus a game could be called earlier if the trailing team cannot score enough runs in the sixth inning to tie the score.

Again, we plan to get consistent by 2010, so thank you for having patience with us.

Carey Wrenn

State Director 

Buddy Burney, NC Dixie Youth Baseball National Director, passed away today, January 10, 2009 after a short battle with cancer.

Funeral arrangments:   There will be a vistitation from 4pm-7pm on Sunday, January 11 at the Bladen-Gaskins Funeral Home located on the corner of NC 242 and Martin L. King Drive about 2 miles south of Elizabethtown. From NC 87 turn south onto ML King Drive and go about a half a mile. From US 701 turn west onto NC 242 and go about one mile.

The funeral will be at 2pm on Monday January 12 at the White Plains Presbyterian Church about 6 miles east of Clarkton. From the west, north and south, go to the intersection of US 701 and NC 211 in Clarkton. Travel east 5.9 miles until you get to the Emerson sign and turn north onto White Plains Church Road. Go 1.7 miles and the church will be on your right. From the east, traveling on NC 211, turn right onto White Plains Chruch road and then go 1.7 miles to the church.

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers a contribution to the Dixie Youth Baseball Scholarship Fund be sent to Carey Wrenn, NC State Director at 190 Sage Lane, Madison Heights, VA  24572.

Cards can be sent to the home at PO Box 668 Clarkton, NC  28433.

The Buddy Burney Day (see below) will be held as planned on January 17, 2009. 

Buddy has served many capacities in Dixie Youth since the 1970s. He has been a District Director, Assistant State Director and National Director (since 1999). Buddy will me missed very much by NCDYB. As listed in other articles on this website, he was instrumental in establishing the Scholarship games. He helped schedule the games, he worked the gate, he helped line up umpires and did much more in the various sets of games held each year in Elizabethtown, Hallsboro and Clarkton (his home town).

Buddy and I (Carey Wrenn) had a conversation in December. Buddy told me that he knew that Jesus Christ was his Saviour and that he knew that Jesus had died on the cross for him and that Jesus did arise from the grave and ascended into Heaven, where he (Buddy) will be with Him at the throne of the Father. While it is very sad news that we will not get to be with Buddy physically (we will be with him spiritually as we work and play this year), we can have joy that Buddy is in Heaven.

Buddy was beloved by almost everyone he met. He loved helping others, particularly children of all ages.

We ask that you pray for his family. He is survived by his wife, Leesa; a son, Frankie, who is a DYB District Director (wife Christie); two daughters, Corey and Casey; a sister, Geraldine; four brothers, Jim, Walt, Ronald, and Marvin; 3 grandchildren and many, many friends.    

The Danny Jones Club, named after the first Commissioner of Dixie Youth Baseball, is an excellent way to recognize and reward leaders of your local league.

Please send "handouts" for the application and other information about this great program.

Current members of the Danny Jones Club from North Carolina are:

Jiggs Powers- Whiteville and Columbus County--Sportswriter

J.B. Hickman- Whiteville Optimists--Longtime Financial Supporter

Paul Graham- Fairmont- League President, Coach, Financial Supporter

Tom Little- Charlotte South Park- League Incorporator and Supporter

Charlie Cole- Hope Mills-Coach, League Leader and Supporter

James Harper- Southport- Newspaper Publisher and Financial Supporter

Michael Mobley- Columbus County- League President, Coach, Scholarship Games Supporter

Steve Pitt- Indian Trail- League Leader

Thurman Ward- Nakina (Columbus Co)- League Leader, Coach, Supporter

Bill Messimer- Kannapolis- League Leader, Coach, Supporter

George Barber- Reidsville- League Leader, Caoch, Supporter

Larry Slater- Whiteville Optimist- Coach, League Leader, Umpire, Supporter

Cecil Curlee- Norwood- League Leader, Coach, Supporter

Bobby Child- Leland- League Leader, Coach, Supporter

Bill Johnson- Columbus County- League Leader, Coach, Supporter

Mike McDuffy- North Stanly- League Incorporator and Leader, Coach, Supporter

Applications should be mailed to:

Carey Wrenn, State Director, 190 Sage Lane, Madison Heights, VA  24572

The North Carolina Dixie Baseball/Softball State meeting was held on January 31, 2009 at the Days Inn in Southern Pines, NC.

There were about 230 people in attendance including 17 Official Suppliers displaying their products for leagues to use as fundraising or their equipment needs. In attendance were also National, State and District officials.

Each Dixie organization (Dixie Youth Baseball, Dixie Softball, and Dixie Boys/Majors Baseball) was well represented.

As ususal the attendees enjoyed and outstanding lunch prepared by the Days Inn staff.  

The DYB meeting was chaired by State Director Carey Wrenn. National Officials included Deputy Commissioner Billy Deaton from SC, National Vice President Tommy Henry from Georgia, National Secretary Gary McJunkin from SC, National Directors Ken Britt and David Jackson from NC. Also in attendance was Tom Linton, one of the incorporators of Dixie Youth Baseball. He received a standing ovation when he was introduced.

The drawings for the 2009 AA, AAA, and majors state tournaments were drawn (see Handouts). The national directors also gave out their annual National Director Awards to leagues who showed exemplary service in 2008. The leagues receiving awards this year were Town Creek (Brunswick County), Tryon Optimist (Gaston County) and Kannapolis.

Carey Wrenn awarded the State Director's award (given to an individual who has shown outstanding support to NC Dixie Youth Baseball) to Buddy Burney. Buddy died on January 10, 2009. His son, Frankie, and his brother, Marvin, received the award on behalf of Buddy and his family.  

Distict Workshop schedules were passed out to the leagues (see Handouts for the schedule). 

The Practice Games registrations were also handed out (see schedules and registration forms for each in the Handout Section). Wrenn emphasized that those interested in playing should register early before all of the time slots were filled.  

The 2010 meeting will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2010, likely at the same site.

The North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball AA (coach pitch) Practice (Scholarship) Games have been named the "Buddy Burney Practice-Scholarship Games". These games are held in June of each year and feature AA (coach pitch) All-Star teams from around the state. The games are designed to allow tournament teams to have practice games against teams from other districts as they prepare to enter Dixie Youth tournament play. They also serve as a fundraiser for the Dixie Youth Scholarship Fund. Over $80,000 has been raised for the Scholarship Fund in the almost 20 years that NC Dixie Youth has been holding the games (including other sets of practice games). Buddy Burney was one of the originators of the various sets of practice games. Buddy has always had a particular fondness for the coach pitch division. His home league, Clarkton Dixie Youth, has hosted the AA games since their inception a few years ago.

The Practice Games for regular season teams, which is held in April of each year in Elizabethtown and Clarkton, are named the Charles L. Lennon Games--after the former National Director (Mr. Lennon). NCDYB also holds practice games for the Majors and AAA divisions tournament teams in Hallsboro, Clarkton and other locations each June. All of the games serve as fundraisers for the Scholarship Fund.

The Sportsmanship Award given at the NCDYB AA State Tournament is also named for National Director, Charles "Buddy" Burney. The first named award was presented in honor of Burney to Oxford DYB at the 2008 NCDYB AA State Tournament at the Cape Fear Optimists Club complex in Wilmington on July 8, 2008.

Burney, from Clarkton, has been involved as a Dixie Youth official since the mid-1970s. He served as a District Director for many years and was elected to the National Board in 1999. He was instrumental in the inception of the Scholarship Practice Games in Elizabethtown and Hallsboro in the early 1990s and was the key person in starting the AA (Coach Pitch) Scholarship Practice Games in Clarkton several years ago.

Please join the NCDYB family in congratulating Buddy on this well-deserved honor. (Please see earlier News story about Buddy's illness.   

Wayne Casteen is the Umpire-in -Chief for North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball. He is responsible for scheduling umpire clinics throughout the state and for registering umpires eligible call in DYB tournaments.

His phone number is 910-285-7694 (h) and 910-289-8348 (c). His email address is 3rdstrike22@embarqmail.com

For 2008 we will use an "Application" for those who wish to call in State Tournaments. Please see the "Handouts" section under Umpire Information to download and application.

All applications should be sent to: Wayne Casteen  404 E. Southerland St. Wallace, NC  28466