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State Farm claims T-ball tourney title
Spell Cannonweb
Dalton Spell, left, beats True Craven to third base during the championship game of the 5-6-year-old boys T-ball tournament. Spell had four hits for State Farm, which won 26-12. Craven had three hits in the loss for Smoky Mountain Water. - photo by Jeff Simmons
A week’s worth of tournament games in the 5-6-year-old T-ball league left only State Farm and Smoky Mountain Water standing by Friday night.State Farm had just enough left in the tank to claim the tournament championship with a 26-12 win.State Farm defeated Fully Loaded 22-13 just moments before taking Jim Mansfield Field for the championship game.Four-hit performances by Nathan Elrod, Dalton Spell, Trad Grizzle and Jathen Bogle helped ensure State Farm would claim the crown by the end of the night.Cooper Thurman, Logan Earls, Nathan Bond and Sebastian Aughenbaugh had three hits apiece for State Farm.Dominique Kirby, Jacob Nunley and Braylan Pawlak finished with two hits each.State Farm was a dominating force on offense, increasing its scoring output in each inning.State Farm jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first, only to see Smoky Mountain Water answer with six runs in the home half.State Farm battled back with six runs of its own to regain a 11-6 advantage.After giving up three more runs to Smoky Mountain Water, State Farm put away the game with a seven-run third inning.State Farm found itself with a 18-10 lead going into the fourth.Bases-loaded singles by Elrod and Bogle helped drive in eight runs and push the lead to 16.Smoky Mountain Water got two runs in the bottom of the fourth when True Craven and Ty Heathcock scored on a single by Chayten Knight.In the end, it wasn’t enough as State Farm run-ruled Smoky Mountain Water in the championship game.Each player in the championship game received a tournament trophy for being either champions or runners-up.Smoky Mountain Water advanced to the championship with a 20-9 win over Security Federal earlier in the night.Knight, Craven, Heathcock, Justus Majors, Devin Martin, Sawyer Seymour, Peyton Adams, Craig Peterson, Brycen Basham and Daniel Wright each had hits in the championship game for Smoky Mountain Water.