OKEECHOBEE - The eight and under Okeechobee All-Stars placed second in the state tournament that took place from June 29 through July 4 and earned their spot in the 2018 Dixie Youth World Series.
The team will be making the trip from Okeechobee to Lumberton, North Carolina on July 27 to represent Florida in the tournament.
This is the first in a series of four articles that Okeechobee News will publish leading up to the World Series which introduces the players that make up the Okeechobee 8U All-Stars.
• Kylar Koedam is 9 years old, currently in fourth grade and attends North Elementary. He’s a left fielder and back up catcher for the team. His favorite part of baseball is having the opportunity to make awesome plays, batting and being part of a team. He loves the Red Sox and wants to either be a MLB player or professional motorcross racer when he grows up.

• Ruben Guerrero is an 8-year old in fourth grade who goes to school at Central Elementary. He plays short stop and his favorite MLB player is Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig. Ruben says that playing in the state tournament was awesome and that his hero is his grandpa, also know as Po Po.
• David Busbin is a 9-year old fourth grader who is currently home schooled. He plays third base and his favorite team is the New York Yankees and favorite player is outfielder Aaron Judge. He says playing in the state tournament was fun, but hot, and that his grandma and aunts called 24/7 to ask about what happened in the games throughout the tournament. Although he’s not sure what he wants to be when he grows up he would like to hunt hogs and sell them.

This series will continue in Friday’s paper with three more players from the Okeechobee 8U All-Stars. If you see a few of the players around town raising funds to pay for their trip to the World Series be sure to wish them luck as they go on to represent both Okeechobee and Florida.