North Limestone conquers Andalusia

Published 11:52 pm Sunday, July 19, 2009

North Limestone Post 49 sealed its berth in the championship game of the Alabama American Legion Junior State tournament Sunday, defeating Andalusia 10-3.

North Limestone will face the winner of Pool B Monday at 11 a.m. for the state championship.

The win over Andalusia was not a sure thing, however, as Andalusia led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.

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After North Limestone rallied to tie the game in the fourth, it blew the game open in the fifth by scoring seven runs.

Justin Riddle, Seth Beaman and Steven Bennett all drove in two RBIs each on RBI singles in the fifth.

This came after North Limestone tied the game in the fourth on a two RBI single by Chandler Brock.

“It was good for us to get behind like that and have to battle back,” said North Limestone head coach Hunter Royer. “It showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit and that’s something I’ve seen from this team all summer long.”

Lucas Mould continued North Limestone’s dominance on the mound at the tournament, pitching a complete game. Mould allowed one earned run on six hits, while striking out 12. Mould threw 137 pitches in the win.

“Lucas was great today,” Royer said. “He really hung in there. He just battled and showed a lot of heart.”

Mould credited his performance to a higher power.

“I just want to thank the Lord for allowing me to do it,” Mould said. “It was pretty tiring out there, but I made it through.”

Mould said the team’s slow start was frustrating.

“It was a little disappointing to fall behind like that, but once we gained a little momentum and started to get things going, I felt a lot better out there,” Mould said.

North Limestone will now begin preparations for the championship game, a game it will play without five of its players.

“We have five guys leaving to go on a mission trip, so it’ll be tough to play without those guys,” Royer said. “But, we’ll be ready to play. We get two guys back from vacation and we’ll be ready to go.”

North Limestone will look for another performance on the mound, but Royer does not know where that performance will come from.

“I really don’t know who we’re going to throw right now,” Royer said. I’ll have to eat and sleep on it before I decide.”

No matter the result, Royer said he is proud of the season the team has had.

“This team has gone above and beyond what I thought they could be after the first game of the season,” Royer said.