Dixie Youth honors Hartsville boy’s battles
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
Dylan Adams of Hartsville was 13. He was devoted to, and excelled at, Dixie Youth Baseball. A few months ago, he lost his battle with cancer. But thanks to officials of South Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball, his game will go on. The executive board of S.C. Dixie Youth Baseball has named its sportsmanship award for Division 2-AAA after Dylan. Youths 9 to 10 play in that division. “We kind of felt it was fitting,” said Paul McCulloch of Conway, state director for S.C. Dixie Youth Baseball. “We felt like we needed to do something for Dylan. We felt like that was a good one to honor him with.” People all over the state were well aware of Dylan’s medical struggle, McCulloch said. Dixie Youth “is kind of like a brotherhood,” he said. Dylan played on two Dixie Youth World Series championship teams as a player for Hartsville Northern. He won the batting championship at that World Series in Alabama in 2017, according to news media reports. He’s also known for holding a Dixie Youth record for most home runs in a game and for being a member of S.C. Dixie Youth’s hall of fame, media reports say. Dylan “just loved the game,” McCulloch said. “It’s really hard to explain it. It was just contagious.” The youth died Oct. 18, 2020. His obituary said: “Dylan loved baseball! He played from before he could lace his own cleats. He was known for a big swing, a strong arm and the well-known nickname ‘Big D.’” Dylan’s obit listed his “many loves” as “God, his family, his friends, cruising the neighborhood on his golf cart with the music too loud, riding four-wheelers, playing ball, Clemson football, Hartsville Northern League, fishing and his hometown Red Foxes.” “Dylan was a brave, courageous, strong, perfect boy who never let his circumstances get him down,” his obituary said. “He had a smile that brightened every room he walked in and a heart just as big. He fought with everything he had and at the end of his battle — HE WON!”
