Benton Everett American Legion won the 2025 AA American Legion State Championship with a dominant postseason run that included a 12-2 semifinal win over Magnolia and an 11-1 victory against Lake Hamilton in the final.
The tournament was hosted at Benton High School and featured 13 teams across four pools. Benton went 2-0 in pool play to lock down the number one seed. A bye in the first round led to a 12-2 quarterfinal victory over Conway.
The most outstanding pitcher of the tournament was Blake Mitchem. He threw eight innings with only one earned run. Caleb Curry was the tournament MVP. He had a .538 batting average, which accumulated from being 7-for-12 from the plate along with four RBIs.
This season was the first for the Benton Panthers to have an American Legion team made up entirely of Panthers.
“We had a great summer. We feel like we got exactly what we needed to get out of summer baseball. Very proud of these young men and coaches. Coach Moser and Coach Mason McDaniel did an outstanding job with these young men all summer long,” said Mark Balisterri.