'For Cam': How the memory of Camden Dedeaux inspired Sumrall baseball to win a state title
After the final pitch was thrown and the Sumrall baseball team tossed their hats in the air with joy, coach Andy Davis told a few of his players to retrieve a poster that had been hanging in the dugout.
It was a poster of a smiling teenage girl, and there was a sign accompanying it.
"For Cam," the sign read.
Camden Dedeaux was a 17-year-old Sumrall student who died in a car crash in February, weeks before the season started. Her twin brother, Cade, is an outfielder the Sumrall baseball team.
The team rallied around Camden's memory, and it led Bobcats to clinch their first state title since 2015 with an 11-4 win over Pontotoc on Thursday.
"This means so much to my family," Cade Dedeaux said. "My entire family is here. I'm sure my mom is crying up in the stands, that's a 100 percent fact, especially when they brought out the poster. It's just a lot."
Dedeaux said his sister was his best friend, and that baseball helped him heal in the aftermath of her death.
Infielder Andrew Knight said that the tragedy inspired the team during its postseason run.
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"Camden was a really great girl, and there's so much you can say about her," Knight said. "She was an amazing person, and it was such a tragedy that we lost her, but it brought us all together as a team and baseball really helped Cade take his mind off of it. It helped his parents, too; they're still struggling. It's just a horrible thing to happen, but it inspired us to do it for her."
Sumrall needed a bit of luck to help it snap a five-game Trustmark Park losing streak Tuesday before completing the sweep on Thursday.
The team used Care Bear dolls as a good luck charm, holding them during rallies and keeping several in the dugout.
"I've always liked Champ Bear and my wife got me Champ Bear when I got the job," Davis said. "I rub its head before every game. I told the boys and they hopped on and bought four or five more bears. So Care Bears are our animal."
With the Care Bears, a breakout offensive performance and the memory of Camden Dedeaux guiding the Bobcats, Sumrall was able to summon enough postseason magic to end the season as state champions.
"Bringing that poster out for her, it's been tough," Davis said. "I commend Cade and these seniors for playing for her. Anytime you lose a classmate close to graduation, and all the other tragedies that happened, it hit home for us. But this tops it off."
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Sumrall baseball inspired to win state in memory of Camden Dedeaux
