Jackson Parish 13U All-Stars recently became the first local baseball team ever to play in World Series competition. Making history would, in itself, be a memory that lasts a lifetime, but even though it is hard to believe, it gets even better. They made history not once, but twice!
When JP13U beat Chester, South Carolina, 11-6 in the opening round of bracket play of the Dixie Boys Baseball World Series played in Sterlington, LA, this past week, the squad representing the Jackson Parish Recreation Department made history once again by becoming the first-ever local youth baseball team to WIN a World Series contest.
Sadly, the tremendous experience of playing against the best teams from the southeastern United States came to an end when they were eliminated from the tournament after losing to, ironically, another team from north Louisiana, Bossier City, by a 7-3 score. It was the second time that Bossier City beat JP13U following a 12-2 defeat in the first game of pool play on Wednesday, July 15th. This was followed by another pool play loss, this time by a 9-1 margin to West Columbia, South Carolina.
Managed by Dusty Tolar and coaches Brandon Reed and John Ables, the JP13U team consisted of Thatcher Savage, Mason Tolar, Jaxen Culpepper, Grant Griffin, Shepard Norred, Caston Zimmerman, Aiden Reed, Jackson Ables, Jase Reed, and Carter Powell.
Managed by Dusty Tolar and coaches Brandon Reed, John Ables the JP13U team consisted of Thatcher Savage, Mason Tolar, Jaxen Culpepper, Grant Griffin, Shepard Norred, Caston Zimmerman, Aiden Reed, Jackson Ables, Jase Reed, and Carter Powell.
Eleven teams participated in the 2026 Dixie Boys Baseball World Series, including 4 from Louisiana (Jackson Parish, Winnsboro, Bossier City, Sterlington) and two from South Carolina (West Columbia, Chester). Additional teams hailed from Texas (Texarkana), Florida (Spring Hill), North Carolina (West Robeson), Tennessee (Dyersburg), and Arkansas (Texarkana).
Dixie Boys Baseball 13U World Series Recap
Bossier City, LA 12 JP13U 2 (Game One Pool Play): A ten-run second inning by the northwest Louisiana opponent was too much to overcome in the opening game of pool play. Down 12-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, JP13U demonstrated great heart and determination by refusing to roll over and scored two runs before making the final two outs of the inning. The attempted rally started when, with one out, Sheppard Norred drew a walk, and Aiden Reed got hit by a pitch. After both advanced a base on a wild pitch, Jaxon Culpepper plated both with his second hit of the day, the other being a first-inning double. Jackson Parish got three other hits in the four-inning contest, one each by Reed, Thatcher Savage and Mason Tolar. Grant Williams, Jackson Ables and Jase Reed also got on base via walks.
West Columbia, SC 9 JP13U 1 (Game Two Pool Play): Jackson Parish gained their first lead of World Series play when Jaxon Culpepper singled, stole second and third base and scored on a Grant Griffin sacrifice fly but West Columbia rallied to score four runs in both the bottom of the first and second innings to pull away. JP13U managed only two more hits in the contest, one being a Caston Zimmerman double adn the other coming from the bat of Griffin. Jase Reed also reached base on an error.
JP13U 11 Chester, SC 6 (Game One Bracket Play): Jackson Parish put together their most complete game of the World Series, collecting 7 hits and 10 free passes that led to at least one run being scored in all five frames, including three in the second, third, and fifth innings. JP13U jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Aiden Reed opened the contest with a walk and scored on Grant Griffin’s sacrifice groundout. Caston Zimmerman followed with his second double in two games, and Thatcher Savage drew a walk, but both were left stranded on base. Reed, who was the winning pitcher, struck out two to keep Chester scoreless, leading to JP13U upping the lead to 4-0 when Jaxon Culpepper hit a bases-clearing double after Jase Reed and Sheppard Norred drew walks and Aiden Reed got hit by a pitch. A nifty double play orchestrated when pitcher Reed caught a liner and fired to first to double up a Chester runner who had walked to keep Chester scoreless in the second led to JP13U adding three more runs to the lead in the top of the third whenThatcher Savage opened with a single and scored on a Jase Reed base hit. Mason Tolar then got hit by a pitch, and Aiden Reed smashed a triple to plate both. Chester narrowed the deficit to 7-4 in the bottom of the third, but JP13U added another run in the top of the fourth inning when Grant Griffin walked and scored on Thatcher Savage’s double, the fourth extra-base hit of the game for the locals. With the score 8-6, JP13U put the game away with the final three runs when Jase Reed walked, Mason Tolar reached base on a dropped third strike, and Sheppard Norred drew a base on balls to load the bases. Aiden Reed singled to score one, leading to Norred scoring on a passed ball and Jaxon Culpepper getting an RBI with a sacrifice groundout.
Bossier City 7 JP13U 3 (Game Two Bracket Play): It looked like JP13U would be enjoying sweet revenge early on, but a 3-0 lead after two at-bats disappeared over the final three innings, eliminating the locals from the tournament. Opening the game as the visitors for the third straight time, Jackson Parish quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to Jaxon Culpepper coaxing a one-out walk, both Grant Griffin and Caston Zimmerman hitting back-to-back doubles, and Jackson Ables getting an RBI on a sacrifice groundout. The lead expanded to 3-0 in the next inning after Jase Reed and Mason Tolar walked and Culpepper hit a clutch two-out single. JP13U held the lead until Bossier City scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning before adding two more in the bottom of the fifth for the final runs.
Tournament Summary: As a team, JP13U scored 17 runs in the four games and achieved a .324 batting average with 22 hits in 68 official plate appearances, which included 8 doubles and one triple. Jaxon Culpepper led with a sterling .600 batting average with 6 hits in 10 at-bats, three of which were doubles. He also led the team with 7 RBI. Thatcher Savage scored a run and knocked one in while his double was one of his four hits, leading to an even .500 batting average. Hitting .375 was Aiden Reed, who had the only triple of the tourney, knocked in a pair and tied for the team lead with 4 runs scored, and Grant Griffin, who hit a double, scored twice and was second on the team with 3 RBI. Caston Zimmerman, who had a team-tying best 3 doubles, was close behind with a .364 average. Jase Reed hit .250 with a hit in four official plate appearances but led the team with four walks, was tied for the team lead with four runs scored and had an RBI. Mason Tolar reached base three times with a hit, a walk, and getting hit by a pitch, while Sheppard Norred scored three runs and drew three walks, and Jackson Ables drew a walk and knocked in a run