Lincoln Byron, a rising eighth-grader at Turner Middle School, has been selected to compete this summer in the USSSA National All-State Championships in Indianapolis. (Photo by Mandy Lea Photography)

By Shelley Widhalm

The Surveyor

Rising eighth-grader Lincoln Byron and a couple of his team members from Longmont Storm Baseball will be representing the state of Colorado as they compete in a national baseball tournament later this summer.

Byron, who attends Turner Middle School, will compete in the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) National All-State Championships in Indianapolis between July 29 and Aug. 3. He will be playing on a Colorado AA division team.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Byron said. “The other players obviously are the best in the state. It’s going to be a great competition with some pretty good players, so I’m excited for it.”

Teams competing in the tournament have 12 to 14 players, nominated from teams that finished in the Top 25 of the power rankings from within their state or through a local USSSA All-State program. Coaches also can nominate players if they meet the standards—Byron’s coach, Steve Hamby, nominated him.

“I think it’s a pretty cool opportunity that I have,” Byron said. “I’ve never traveled that far for baseball. We’re just going to be doing so many more things. It’s going to be a whole different atmosphere, because the fields are really nice.”

The players are placed in age groups to compete in the tournament from age eight and under, or 8U, up to 14U—the goal is for each state to be represented by a full team in each age and class of AA and Open. Lincoln’s team is placed in 13U and has 14 team members, with him the only member from Berthoud.

“It’s a great opportunity for him to go and travel and experience a different baseball atmosphere and meet lots of people who are involved in the sport,” said Kelsey Byron, Lincoln’s mother. “He’s resilient and sticks with it and always looks to the next play. I’m proud of how he deals with it when things go wrong—he works through that and plays on.”

During the tournament, the teams will play three pool games counted toward seeding for championship bracket play. The teams will be placed in brackets based on their pool play results and teams losing the first bracket game will fall to a consolation bracket. The championship games in all the brackets are winner-take-all. That means teams will get to play at least five games, including three pool and two bracket games.

“All of the states get put in playoff brackets and go up against each other to try to make it to the championship and win,” the young Byron said.

Byron started playing T-ball when he was a toddler, joining a 9U baseball team in Berthoud at age six, playing second base. He’d wanted to play after learning a few things from his older brother, Kodiak, now 18, who also plays the game and inspired him to start practicing.

“After a while, I converted to shortstop,” Byron said. “I got older and my arm got stronger, so I could make the bigger throw.”

Byron joined a Storm team when he was eight, but then COVID-19 happened, so he didn’t compete for a year. At age 10, he joined another Storm team, Longmont Storm Baseball, a 13U AAA competitive baseball team, where he serves as shortstop and closing pitcher.

“I get to close out the game when I’m pitching,” Byron said. “It’s like the last inning, so it’s either win or lose, so there’s more pressure and stuff. With the shortstop, I get a lot of action with ground balls and a lot of fielding opportunities.”

Byron is continuously trying to improve his game, such as working on his fielding and swing and pitching mechanics, he said. He’s looking forward to playing with top-level players in a more competitive environment.

“Playing better competition helps you adjust your pitch speed and all kinds of things you need to be a better player,” Byron said.

Most of all, Byron plays because he loves the game, he said.

“I was able to just forget about everything else and go play a game where nothing else mattered,” Byron said. “I could go have some fun on the field.”