VALDOSTA —
Valdosta’s local teams dropped their opening games, but bounced back on Thursday evening to stay alive at the Dizzy Dean Baseball state tournaments at Freedom Park.
The 10-year-old All-Stars blew out Villa Rica 15-0 on Thursday evening, while the 8-year-old All-Stars beat Winston Blue 12-4.
The 10-year-olds will face Boynton at 10 a.m. today. The 8-year-olds will battle a yet-to-be-determined opponent at 1 p.m.
Freedom Park is hosting the Dizzy Dean Baseball 8- and 10-year-old state tournaments. The tournaments began on Thursday and will last until Sunday. Today’s games begin at 10 a.m.
The 10-year-old All-Star team, which calls itself the Valdosta Sluggers, lost its first game 14-3 on Thursday afternoon. But then the Sluggers dominated their second game, pounding Villa Rica.
“That’s the group of boys that we know,” Sluggers head coach Tim Samples said after the game. “Pitching was dominant. Weston Roberts pitched three innings of shutout baseball. And all of our kids but one had a hit. Our bats really came alive in the second game. (And) the defense was outstanding.”
The Sluggers jumped on Villa Rica quickly, batting around and scoring eight runs in the first inning. Then they continued to pound the ball in the second inning, batting around again and scoring seven more runs. After two innings, they held a 15-0 lead, and after Roberts blanked Villa Rica in the third, the game ended due to the mercy rule.
Roberts pitched a three-inning shutout, struck out three batters and only walked one.
“Pitching and defense will win (games) for you, and they did tonight,” Samples said.
The Sluggers’ hitters pounded the ball. Drew Harrell went 3 for 3 with two doubles, two runs batted in, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Andrew Clark was 2 for 3 with three runs, three RBIs and two stolen bases. Cameron Carter went 2 for 2 with two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base.
“Our bats were on fire,” Samples said.
The 8-year-old All-Stars, who call themselves the Valdosta Blazers, also grabbed an early lead en route to a convincing win on Thursday night.
“I was pleased with our defensive effort tonight,” head coach Dan Kerrigan said. “We came back with a convincing win tonight. We put a lot of runs on the board, (although) they gave us some of those runs. ... (This game) gave us a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.
“Tomorrow, we want to come out and hit it hard and play good defense, and see if we can hang around as long as we can. I’m telling the boys, ‘Just one game at a time, one inning at a time.’”
Earlier on Thursday, the Blazers had lost 6-4 to the Cherokee Bulls.
“The earlier game today was tough. We kind of woke up around the third inning, and we gave them a pretty good run, but we ended up losing 6-4,” Kerrigan said.
Kerrigan said that Lamonte Lindon was the team’s top hitter on Thursday. Lindon had several RBIs for the Blazers in the two games.
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Drew Harrell of the Valdosta Sluggers swings at a pitch during his team’s 15-0 victory over Villa Rica during the Dizzy Dean Baseball 10-year-old state tournament on Thursday at Freedom Park. Christian Malone | The Valdosta Daily Times
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Nate Bowman of the Valdosta Blazers hits the ball during his team’s 12-4 win over Winston Blue during the Dizzy Dean Baseball 8-year-old state tournament at Freedom Park. Christian Malone | The Valdosta Daily Times
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Wyatt Crosby of the Valdosta Blazers puts the ball in play during his team's 12-4 win over Winston Blue at the Dizzy Dean Baseball 8-year-old state tournament at Freedom Park. Christian Malone | The Valdosta Daily Times
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Andrew Clark of the Valdosta Sluggers hits the ball during his team's 15-0 win over Villa Rica on Thursday at the Dizzy Dean Baseball 10-year-old state tournament at Freedom Park. Christian Malone | The Valdosta Daily Times
Discussion
Local teams split first 2 games at state tournaments
Tournaments continues today at Freedom Park
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