Two teams stayed perfect in their quest for the boys 7-8 machine-pitch tournament championship Friday night, while another survived an elimination game. The final two teams who took Hoover and Millraney Field just got drenched.
Tournament action was fast and furious with a full slate of games Friday, though a late shower postponed the final contest.
Fully Loaded started action by beating O’Reilly 8-7 in an elimination game. Southern Standard followed with an 8-3 win over Prater’s BBQ to move into the winner’s bracket finals, where the team will meet Brent’s Computers following its 7-2 victory over Hoover and Son Insurance.
Fully Loaded was at the brink of elimination after an opening-round loss to Southern Standard, but Dillon Young’s RBI single to score Kenyon Reno helped Fully Loaded stay alive in the boys tournament.
Fully Loaded went into the bottom of the third tied with O’Reilly 7-7 and knowing it could win with one run. With time already expired, Reno ignited Fully Loaded with his second triple of the contest.
With the winning run standing at third base, Young didn’t waste long in providing the game-winning hit. Young hit the ball and didn’t stop running until he reached second base safely. The celebration was already starting as Fully Loaded advanced while O’Reilly was eliminated in seventh place.
Reno, Easton Denning and Ashton Forth finished the game with two hits each to lead Fully Loaded. Young, Luke Campbell, Jake Rains, Nate Luttrell and Jaxson Pennington added one hit apiece.
Gavin Mason, Bryan Holquin, Cooper Thurman, Brett Cantrell, Alex Castaneda, Kobe Cagle and Tyler Lee had hits for O’Reilly.
Southern Standard used a dominant defense and five-run second inning to dispatch Prater’s BBQ in a winner’s bracket semifinal game.
After each team scored two runs in the first inning, Southern Standard exploded with five runs in the second inning.
Kilynn King started the surge with a lead-off triple and came around to score on Luke Winkler’s RBI single. Southern Standard had to rally with two outs and did so behind three straight doubles by Justus Majors, Sawyer Seymour and Kaden Rutledge. By the time Trad Grizzle and Owen Clark knocked in runs with singles, Southern Standard led 7-2.
Prater’s BBQ had an opportunity to cut into the lead with runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the second, but Seymour’s defense suffocated the scoring chance.
On a fly ball lofted into short-left field by J.J. Jacobs, Seymour sprinted from his shortstop position and made a diving catch in the grass for the final out. It was one of many highlight plays by Southern Standard to keep Prater’s off the scoreboard most of the game.
Rutledge provided an insurance run in the top of the fourth with an RBI single to score Majors, but Southern Standard already had more than enough runs to win.
Robert Young tripled and scored on a ground ball by Matthew Young in the bottom of the fourth for Prater’s, but the team couldn’t rally from the six-run deficit to win.
Majors, Seymour and Rutledge each finished 3-for-3 to lead Southern Standard. Grizzle and King added two hits apiece while Clark, Winkler and Chase Ferrell had one hit each.
Trent Mills and Robert Young led Prater’s BBQ with two hits apiece. Layne Robert’s lone hit was a first-inning, inside-the-park home run while Matthew Young, Baler Melton and Kyler Robinson also finished with one hit each.
After barely getting by Randall Walker Farms in its first game, top-seeded Brent’s Computers rolled to a five-run victory over Hoover and Son Insurance.
Nathan Elrod and Jax King had three hits and scored three runs each at the top of the order for Brent’s Computers to provide an offensive lift. Logan Earls and Jathan Bogle added two hits apiece while Dominque Kirby, Ethan Basham and Braylan Bogle chipped in one hit each.
Hoover and Son Insurance scored its only two runs in the third inning when Dylan Bacchill and Arick Murphy singled and scored. Dayton Jernigan and Noah Murphy also had singles for Hoover and Son Insurance.
Prater’s BBQ and Randall Walker Farms had just started the final game Friday night when rain set in and forced the game to be postponed. The boys 7-8 tournament finals are set for Tuesday, July 2.