Hildebran 12U baseball all-stars win district, will play at state next week

The Hildebran 12U baseball all-stars won the Tarheel League District 1 tournament title on Tuesday, finishing a dominant 4-0 run through the event with a 5-0 shutout win over Shelby.

Prior to that, the Hildebran team opened the six-team, double-elimination tournament — which was hosted by Alexander County at Jolly Field and Shuford Field at East Alexander Park in Hiddenite — with a 4-3 win over Shelby on July 9.

Hildebran then topped host Alexander, 9-7, and took down Hickory by a 12-2 margin to reach the championship game.

This year’s Hildebran all-stars, which as district champions will advance to next week’s state tournament, include players Dash Robinson, Abel Frederick, Easton Mull, Colt Annas, Carson Haas, Finnley Hullette, Benjamin Starrett, Eli Horton, Garrett Scott, Lane Lambert, and Tucker Mayberry.

The team is coached by Chris Starrett, Zeb Scott, Matt Frederick, and Jimmy Mull.

The Burke County all-stars were 0-2 at the district tournament, falling by margins of 13-1 to Hickory and 7-1 to Shelby.

Hildebran faces Laurinburg on July 23 at 4 p.m. in Williamston to open the Tarheel League 12U state tournament.

The 12Us became Hildebran’s second baseball team to qualify for the 2026 state tourney after the 8U squad finished second in the district the week before to advance.

The Hildebran 8U all-stars also open the state tournament on July 23, facing host Williamston at 7:45 p.m.

Hildebran and Burke also competed in the 10U District 1 baseball tournament last week at Shelby City Park.

Hildebran opened Monday with a 9-6 victory over Alexander before falling by a 15-3 score against the Hickory Tornadoes, which sent Hildebran to the losers bracket to face Burke.

Burke got there by dropping a close opening contest, 12-11, against the Hickory Storm Chasers.

Hildebran then eliminated Burke by a 10-7 score on Wednesday but was eliminated in fourth place later in the evening after a 7-5 setback against host Shelby.

The Hildebran 10U all-stars roster included Pate Smith, Carter Wakefield, Dominick Young, Jaxon Huff, Landon Hedgepeth, Grayson White, Jackson Ferrell, Elliott Garst, Malaki Pritchard, Kale Parker, Skylin Pritchard, and Jaxen Ott. The team was coached by Jesse Huff, Cory Smith, Neal Hedgepeth, and Andrew Ott.

The complete Burke 10U and 12U baseball rosters were not available.