For months, teams have been battling at Centertown Recreational Park for the chance to be champions. This week, five teams will finally be able to lift the trophies as tournaments are scheduled to be wrapped up by Tuesday.
Only a few teams in each of the five leagues are left standings after two nights of furious battles Thursday and Friday. There were a handful of games that came down to one run (including all but one of the finals in T-ball), a wild extra-inning thriller in Junior Boys and some teams looking to run the table as champions.
T-Ball has brought plenty of excitement with its down-to-the-wire finishes last week. DS Farm Supply started the theatrics Thursday, beating Mt. View Monuments 14-13 as Riley Sneed scored the winning run. The close finishes continued Friday as Audrey Lanier put together a 3-for-3 night and Knox Burgess had the game-winning hit as Douglas and Lanier Agency beat Mt. View Monuments 12-12.
D&D Home Improvement wrapped up a wild week by topping US Barn Builders 20-19. Catherine Rowland looked like a star in the making with a 4-for-4 night (including a HR) while also making the game-winning defensive play. Journey Wilkinson also had four hits in the win.
While the drama was building on the smallest field, the big field had plenty of fireworks too. Mt. View Monument pulled off two of the wildest wins of the week to make it to the championship, first beating DC’s Home Improvement 18-9 in extra innings Thursday before topping Ozzy’s Transport12-9 Friday.
DC’s was the league leader in the regular season, but Mt. View made outstanding defensive plays in the fifth and sixth innings to stave off elimination. In the sixth, Mt. View erupted offensively, batting around to send home the regular-season champs.
Mt. View Monuments and Ozzy’s Transport will meet again Monday with the Jr. Boys tournament championship on the line.
In coach-pitch, Carter Eldridge’s three-run HR proved to be the difference as Heritage Farms eliminated Nokes Grave Services Friday. Other matchups were decided much easier as Spring Landscape & Mowing (the regular-season champs) sent Heritage Farms to the loser’s bracket with a 12-8 decision and Dream Builders thumped State Farm 20-12 Thursday.
State Farm bounced back Friday, using four home runs (Zoie Wagner and Bailey Scott hit back-to-back HRs, Ally Soto had a round tripper and Baylee Baxter ended the game with a three-run shot to the fence) to take out Monkey Wrench Garage 21-4.
In the Jr. Girls tourney, Warren Apparel has a leg up on the competition after beating Holder Realty 18-5 in a grudge match Friday. The two teams tied for the regular season title at 7-3.
In senior league action, Bandits and Prater’s Realty are set to meet in the winner’s brackets finals Monday after blowout wins Thursday. The Bandits downed Dr Pepper 19-2 and Prater Realty ran by RRP 18-3. Both losing teams Thursday avoided elimination Friday with victories though (Dr Pepper beat Security Federal 24-4 and RRP beat Riverside Customs 11-9).
Most tournament championships are set to be played Tuesday, pending good weather for the final two nights of games. See the Southern Standard later this week for more information on the Centertown title winners.
