BUDE – The 2001 Franklin County Dixie Youth Major LeagueBaseball All-Stars were recently announced with 13 players on theroster.

Coaching this year’s All-Stars will be Jessie McDowell as headcoach. McDowell plans on naming two assistants before subdistrictplayoffs begin on July 6th at Gloster in the Pine Hills ballpark.

This year’s team will boast an exceptional amount of talent inpitchers Ryan Ratcliff, Ben McDowell (5-0), Cable McMinn (4-2), andDane Hodges(6-0). Ratcliff set a new Dixie Youth strikeout recordwith 134 strikeouts on an 8-2 record.

Ratcliff passed by Franklin greats Braxton Whitehead, BillArnold, and Cole Zumbro on the highly touted strikeout list.

At the plate the All-Stars lead off with McMinn (6 HR’s),Preston Griffth (6 HR’s), and Casey Hammack (5 HR’s) as powerhitters.

Other talented Franklin All-Stars include Dutch Pepples, JeremyHolland, Robert Wilson, Patrick Stevens, Cain Carlock, AlexJohnson, and Jarvis King.