Female Little League phenom Mo’ne Davis visits Meridian

Published 4:00 am Saturday, June 27, 2015

    For a short time last summer, Mo’ne Davis was the hottest name in sports and entertainment, even gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated after she became the first girl to ever win a game in the Little League World Series.

    Now, almost a year later, Davis is getting to see the country and learn a little bit about her heritage on the way.

    Davis made a pit stop in Meridian on Friday and visited with some local officials at James Chaney Park before visiting with some youngsters at the local Boys and Girls Club.

    Davis is traveling with a group of youngsters from Philadelphia, Pa., that is visiting many of the original Negro League cities. The group, traveling in a 1947 Flxible Clipper bus similar to the ones that Jackie Robinson rode on in his Negro League days, recently made a swing through Alabama, playing an old-fashioned tour in Birmingham and Montgomery.

    The group, known as the Anderson Monarchs, is also visiting spots important in the civil rights movement and stopped in Selma, Ala., on Friday morning before eventually making a pitstop in Meridian. The Monarchs are on a 21-day, 19-city tour and were scheduled to be in Jackson today, traveling more than 4,000 miles while carrying reporters from the Philadelphia Inquirer and Sports Illustrated.

    Davis burst onto the national scene last year when she became the first African-American girl to ever play in the Little League World Series. She then made the front of sports sections across America when she pitched a two-hit shutout against Nashville. She became an instant celebrity, making appearances on various talk shows and landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

    Upon arriving in Meridian, Davis was presented a proclamation by mayor Percy Bland and the city of Meridian and took photographs with various city officials.

    Davis was not made available to the media, and a team representative said the tour was about civil rights and not about Davis.