Those who think that little boys are only made of snakes and snails and puppy dog tails don’t know about the hearts that beat deep within the 12 little boys on the Troy Dixie Pre-Minors baseball team.

On Friday night, the team presented a check in the amount of $6,100 to the Troy Lions Club in support of the Troy Miracle Field.

Angel Carlson, club president, said the teammates are the youngest donors to any Miracle

League Field project and congratulated the little boys with the big hearts.

Frank Scarbrough, head coach of the Dixie Youth AA State state runners-up, said he has never been as proud of a bunch of boys in his life.

“There was not a tear shed among them when they lost that last game in the state tournament,” Scarbrough said. “They just came over and ask, ‘Coach, did we raise enough money for the Miracle Field?’ That’s when I cried.”

At the beginning of the Dixie tournament season, Scarbrough said he and the other coaches discussed offering the team something to play for other than a win.

“We wanted them to enjoy playing baseball and to play to win, but we also wanted them to play for something bigger than themselves,” Scarbrough said. “We told them about the Miracle Field and what it would mean to the people of our community to have something like that – a field where everybody could play.”

The idea of raising money to build a field where physically and mentally challenged people of all ages could play ball was something that the boys bought into from the start.

“What we offered them was a way to raise money for the Troy Miracle Field by getting sponsors for each hit the team got during the tournaments,” Scarbrough said. “The boys got out and got sponsors from a dollar a hit up to $5. And, we had people come forward with sponsorships.”

The Troy Dixie Pre-Minors ran rough-shod through the district tournament, amassing hit after hit and dollar after dollar for the Troy Miracle Field.

“They dominated everybody,” Scarbrough said. “But, after the games, they were more interested in how many hits they had than in winning the game.”

At the state tournament in Athens, the team lost the first game but came back strong to win six in a row. But the morning of the championship games, two of the players displayed flu-like symptoms and one was lost to the games.

“We didn’t use that as an excuse,” Scarbrough said. “Each and everyone of the boys had played like a champion, and they are champions. They collected 258 hits and raised $6,100 for the Troy Mircale Field of Troy. And they played every game for something bigger than a win, something bigger than themselves. They are all outstanding ball players for their age, but they will never play bigger than this.”