A Championship Start for Sox 13U Brown
Sox teams opened the 2020 Spring season ready to play ball with Sox 13U Brown coming away with the Championship.
Sox 13U coached by Jason Brown played in the President's Day Classic in Vicksburg over the weekend, going undefeated and earning the #1 seed after only allowing 3 runs the pool games. Starting Saturday afternoon they knocked off Landon Thomas' 13U team 10-2 before playing PYB Elite in back-to-back games, winning 5-1. Sam Tumminello and Stone Myrick led the way in Pool Play, both going .500. Myrick had a double and two runs scored with an RBI. Coach Brown spread the duties on the mound with four players pitching 2 innings each, with a combined 1.91 ERA and 19 strikeouts. Landon Hillhouse led the way with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, giving up one earned run on one hit. Cade Hannula and Jack Ellis each added 3 strikeouts and no earned runs, with Ellis striking out the side in his one inning of work.
In Bracket Play, the top seeded Sox dispatched the CBA Reds in a tight game. The Reds jumped out to a quick 4 run lead in the first inning and added two runs in the 3rd before the Sox finally got started. Entering the bottom of the 3rd trailing 6-1, Jack Ellis got the inning started with a single to short with one out. Stealing 2nd and 3rd with Caden Hannula at the plate and drawing several throws, he scored when Hannula hit a ground ball to short, reaching on error on a bad throw, reaching second base. With Veshone Malone at the plate he ran to third on a passed ball before Malone struck out for the 2nd out of the inning and the Sox trailing 6-2. Another error from short on a hard hit ball from Stone Myrick scored Hannula, and a big double to right field from Landon Hillhouse on the first pitch led to Myrick scoring from first. Another double on the first pitch from Sam Tuminello to center scored Myrick - with the Sox closing the gap to a one run game, trailing 6-5. A single from Jack Ellis in the bottom of the 4th with two outs tied the game after Norris Kelly drew a walk to open the inning, advancing to 2nd on a sac bunt from Jack Adams.
The Reds answered in the top of the 5th when Myrick issued a walk with two outs, then another runner reached on a dropped third strike and a steal of home before the inning ended. The one run lead was short lived as the Sox answered in the bottom of the inning, with the Sox drawing 3 walks, scoring with a single from Tuminello to tie the game. With Landon Hillhouse on 3rd, Norris Kelly hit a high foul ball with one out to right that was caught, allowing Hillhouse to tag and score the winning run.
The final game was also a thriller against the Assassins, a AAA team from Monroe, LA. Both teams entered the championship game undefeated.
The Assassins started the scoring with a quick score in the first, a lead-off triple on the first pitch from Sox pitcher Stone Myrick and an RBI out to short on a 1-1 pitch. The Sox answered in the bottom of the 2nd, with Landon Hillhouse leading off the inning by reaching on a dropped fly ball in right field. Tumminello followed with a walk before Hayes Boyd earned an RBI with a single to center field, scoring Hillhouse who had reached 3rd on a passed ball. After another walk, the Assassins pitcher settled down and struck out 3 straight batters to end the inning tied at one a piece. The Sox escaped a 2 out triple in the third inning, which was the only scoring opportunity for either team until the 5th inning. The Assassins took the lead in the top of the 5th with a lead off single that led to three stolen bases, stealing home to take 2-1 lead with one out. The Sox turned a run down into a run saving out when a bunt was fielded by Tumminello at catcher - who threw to 3rd to catch the runner off the base. Norris Kelly then threw back to Tumminello at the plate, tagging the runner out to record the second out of the inning and keeping the score at 2-1. After an error allowing the next batter to reach, Jack Ellis came in and earned a strike out to end the inning.
The Sox won the Championship in the bottom of the 6th, coming to the plate down by a run. With a new pitcher in to close the game for the Assassins, Bailey Dukes drew a lead off walk on a 3-1 count. Jack Ellis faced another 3-1 count and hit a line drive to left field for a game-tying triple. With Hannula at the plate with no outs, Ellis scored on an error by the Assassins catcher, scoring the go ahead run and taking the championship in the first tournament of the season.
Jack Ellis, Sam Tumminello and Veshone Malone all batted .500 in Bracket Play. The trio combined to score 4 runs on 7 hits, including a double from Tumminello, a triple from Ellis, and 4 RBI. Stone Myrick pitched 5 of the 11 innings in bracket play, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts and only one walk issued.