Youth baseball team wins World Series

The North Chilton Elite 12-and-under youth all-star baseball team hammered the Louisiana-based JPRD all-stars to secure the Dizzy Dean World Series Championship title on July 31.

The 14-4 win resulted from an offensive explosion from the Elite in the fourth inning.

The championship game was not, however, the only game in which the Elite won in dominating fashion.

Over the course of the tournament, North Chilton scored a total of 68 runs, while only allowing 11.

“We were jumping up and down after the game,” 11-year-old centerfielder Pico Kohn said. “The best part was being on TV and hearing that people had been watching us.”

August

Authorities find missing fisherman’s body in Lake Mitchell

Chilton County authorities early Aug. 17 recovered the body of a missing fisherman who disappeared on Lake Mitchell the previous day.

The body of the victim, who was in his 60s, was recovered from the water shortly after 10 a.m., according to Chilton County Sheriff Kevin Davis.

Davis said the victim was fishing in his boat on Lake Mitchell Aug. 16 when he fell into the water approximately 200 yards south of Lay Dam.

“There were some witnesses on the bank who saw him fall into the water,” Davis said.

The victim was the only person in the boat, and he was not wearing a life jacket, Davis said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies from neighboring counties including Autauga, Coosa and Elmore as well as the Alabama Marine Police began searching for Griffin on Aug. 16.

The rescue operation was called off at dark, and authorities resumed the search at 7 a.m. Aug. 17.

Davis said at least one search boat stayed on the water overnight.

Thousands endure heat to attend En Fuego

Temperatures in the upper 90s did not deter thousands of people from congregating in Verbena for the 18th annual En Fuego Christian music festival Aug. 23.

Attendance was lower than in previous years, but the festival still posted another successful year of ministering to people through music and testimony.

“I couldn’t blame anybody that couldn’t come because of the heat,” En Fuego co-founder Johnny Giles said. “It was a much smaller crowd than we’ve had in the past. Still, several thousand people were out there. It was really exciting.”

Giles provided a breakdown of different types of decisions attendees made at the event, including 62 salvations, 99 recommitments, 11 calls to full-time ministry and 38 other faith-related decisions.

He said it was the second-largest total of decisions recorded in one year.

“We were extremely thrilled when we saw that number of people go to the counseling tent,” Giles said. “That was one thing that made us the proudest.”

This year’s all-star lineup—including Crowder, Kari Jobe, OBB, LP, Everyday Sunday, All Access Worship, Allan Scott, Cloverton, speaker Tony Nolan and The “Iceman” (J.D. Anderson)—kept the crowd thoroughly entertained, Giles said.

 

September

Spann speaks at Chamber luncheon

The tornado outbreak that hit Alabama on April 27, 2011, was a life-changing moment for ABC 33/40 Chief Meteorologist James Spann.