Enterprise Nationals walk way to victory
Published 12:00 am Friday, June 27, 2003
Coffee County tried to pull the stunning upset Friday night in the Dixie Minor Sub-District Tournament, but in the end, a lack of pitching spoiled the bid.
In its first year of entry into the sub-district, Coffee County led the Enterprise Nationals 10-3 in the top of the fourth inning. But Enterprise scored 12 runs in the inning to take a 15-10 lead.
Enterprise never trailed again, extending the lead to 21-11 in the fifth and invoking the mercy rule.
The game was delayed by a few minutes by the rain, but the longest delays were reserved for the third and fourth innings. Coffee County scored seven runs in the bottom of the third to take a 10-3 lead.
However, Coffee managed only one hit in the inning. Coffee batters walked five times in the inning.
Lest Coffee felt good about its position, though, the Enterprise batters had the last laugh. Enterprise drew six walks in the top of the fourth, and an additional two batters were hit by the pitch. Throw in a pair of errors by Coffee and Enterprise sent 16 batters to the plate in the 45-minute inning.
When Enterprise swung the bat, the results were good. Hunter Hudson hit a three-RBI triple to help Enterprise take the lead. Jacob Malkoff, in his second plate appearance of the inning, followed that with an RBI double.
Enterprise was not finished when the fourth inning ended. After Coffee County cut the lead to 15-11 in the bottom of the fourth, Enterprise went on the offensive again.
The first two batters struck out in the inning, but the next seven reached base. Six of those scored, and the lead was 21-11.
Hudson blasted his second triple of the game to end the inning. He knocked in Brandon Carpenter, who had a two-RBI double to extend the lead, and Johnny Parton. Hudson was thrown out at the plate trying to extend the triple into a home run.
The Coffee County batters went down in order in the latter half of the inning and the game ended, nearly two-and-a-half hours after it started.