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Regular season champions narrowly win opening-round tournament game
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Dream Builders dominated the regular season of the girls 7-8 machine-pitch league, going 8-0 and winning most by blowouts, but records went out the window when the tournament started this week.Dream Builders needed four runs in the final inning, capped by a game-winning single from Aleya Esparza, to defeat Warren Family Practice 16-15 Thursday.Dream Builders looked well on its way to another blowout victory when the team scored seven runs in bottom of the first to go ahead 7-1.Warren Family Practice battled back though, getting three runs in the second and seven more in the third to take a 11-7 lead.Dream Builders didn’t flinch despite being down. Journey Cowan’s bases-loaded double in the bottom of the third sent the game into the fourth inning with Dream Builders holding a slim 12-11 advantage.A three-run, inside-the-park home run from Sadie Simmons put Warren Family Practice back on top, then Kiya Chavez added a solo home run of her own to make it 15-12 heading into the final at-bat for Dream Builders.Emily Stoner led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and was followed by a single from Gianna Harper.Shelby Robert’s double scored Stoner and put the tying runs in scoring position for Dream Builders.Two straight strikeouts raised the stakes, but Ella Bond and Halo Armstrong knotted the score at 15 with RBI singles.Esparza was the hero when she slapped a single through the infield and brought Bond around for the game-winning run.Bond and Armstrong led Dream Builders with three hits. Harper, Cowan and Karagan Hillis had two hits apiece, while Harper, Stoner, Roberts, Esparza and Halle LaForte added one hit each.Simmons, Kiya Chavez, Sara Woodruff, Bella Cantrell, Taylor Caldwell, Kinslee Grissom, Cadi Beth Todd, Megan Davenport, Ginger Majors and Miya Chavez all had hits for Warren Family Practice.In the second tournament game Thursday, First National Bank beat Advanced Orthopedics 10-4.Gretchen Stuart led the charge for First National Bank with a pair of three-run, inside-the-park home runs.