Valdosta Daily Times

Local Sports

July 7, 2012

Valdosta Sluggers score 29 runs, win twice in tournament

VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Sluggers lived up to their name on Friday.

The Sluggers scored 29 runs in their two games, had a .493 team batting average for the day and earned two victories at the Dizzy Dean Baseball 10-year-old state tournament on Friday at Freedom Park.

“These last three games, our bats have been on fire,” Sluggers head coach Timm Samples said. “These last three games, we’ve scored (44) runs. ... They’re playing the kind of ball they know they can play.”

The Sluggers, the 10-year-old All-Star team from the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority, will play Union County today in a loser’s bracket game at 10 a.m. If they win that game, they will qualify for the Dizzy Dean Baseball World Series.

“Just to be there and have the chance (to play for a trip to the World Series) is a blessing, and we’re fortunate and very lucky,” Samples said. “I hope they’ve got (at least) one more (win) in them.”

On Friday morning, the Sluggers beat Rossville 17-10. They fell behind 6-3 in the second inning. But then they exploded for nine runs in the third inning and five more in the fourth, and pulled away for a seven-run victory.

Cameron Carter had a big game for the Sluggers. He went 4 for 4 and blasted a three-run homer in the fourth. Carter ended up with five runs batted in and scored four runs.

Drew Harrell and Andrew Clark both went 2 for 4 and scored two runs. Clark drove in three runs, and Harrell had two RBIs.

After beating Rossville, the Sluggers switched fields and won another game, defeating Bartow County 12-5.

Brodie Whiddon led the Sluggers at the plate in their second game, going 4 for 4 with two runs, three RBIs and two stolen bases. Jake Hamlin went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a run. Harrell was 2 for 4 and scored two runs. Wade Holton was 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

In the winner’s bracket of the 10-year-old tournament, the Sandy Springs Storm and either the Buckhead Bucks or the Acworth Warriors will play at 10 a.m. today, with the winner advancing to the championship game. The loser of the game will play in the loser’s bracket final.

——

In the 8-year-old state tournament, the East Cherokee Bulls and the OP Sharks will compete for a spot in the championship game today at 9 a.m. They are the last remaining undefeated teams in the tournament.

Four teams remain alive in the loser’s bracket.

Valdosta’s team in the tournament, the Blazers, were eliminated with a 15-7 loss to Sandy Plains on Friday afternoon.

“We had some breakdowns defensively,” head coach Dan Kerrigan said. “We hit OK, but not as well as we would have liked. We ended up with seven runs.”

Nevertheless, Kerrigan said he is still proud of his team, and he looks forward to the team’s next tournament.

Lamonte Lindon drove in multiple runs again for the Blazers on Friday. Wyatt Crosby had two RBIs and Daniel Kerrigan had two hits and an RBI.

The Blazers have qualified for the Dizzy Dean Baseball World Series, which takes place later this month in Southaven, Miss.

“We’re going to work the kinks out and get prepared for opening ceremonies July 18 in Southaven,” Kerrigan said. “I think they’ll be resilient, and I’ve seen them play at a high level. Given the opportunity that we’re going to have, I think they’ll show that again.”

Text Only
Local Sports
  • vaughn.jpg Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings

    With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.

    May 24, 2013 1 Photo

  • Albritton.jpg Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors

    Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.

    May 24, 2013 2 Photos

  • 130523-wounded_warrior002.jpg Golfers take course for Wounded Warriors

    Local patrons participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Golf Tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Valdosta on Thursday.

    May 24, 2013 2 Photos

  • Valwood football hosting 4-man scramble golf tourney

    Head coach Ashley Henderson and the Valwood football team will be hosting a 4-man scramble golf tournament at Valdosta Country Club Friday, June 14.

    May 24, 2013

  • VHS football cheerleaders to host Junior Cheer Camp

    The Valdosta High School football cheerleaders will be hosting a Junior Cheer Camp June 5 through June 7 at the W.G. Nunn Elementary School gymnasium.

    May 24, 2013

  • Gillespie, McPherson pleased with spring practices

    Valdosta’s Rance Gillespie and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson both think their football teams got better during the recent 10 days of spring practice.
    Then again, both coaches know their teams have a ways to go before the start of the football season.

    May 23, 2013

  • vhsboys.jpg Signing day at VHS

    It was signing day galore at Valdosta High School Wednesday.
    Six student-athletes signed national letter of intents to compete at the next level, while two VHS athletes both signed academic scholarships to Division I universities.

    May 23, 2013 2 Photos

  • powell.jpg Powell signs with Shorter

    Robert Powell, a member of the basketball team on South Georgia State College’s Waycross Campus, has signed a letter of intent to continue his basketball career at Shorter University in Rome.

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo

  • 130521-vsu_softball005.jpg Sending the Blazers off

    The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.

    May 22, 2013 2 Photos

  • c.pope_1667.jpg All-Region teams announced

    Lowndes was one win away from a trip to the Class AAAAAA state semifinals, and the success by the Vikings this season showed when the All-Region 1 baseball teams were announced Monday.

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

Blazers Blog
Top Sports News
More
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com