Post 34 Reds defeat Florence

Published 11:58 pm Sunday, July 19, 2009

Post 34 Tuscaloosa Red closed out round robin play at the 2009 Alabama American Legion Junior State Tournament with a 7-6 win over Post 11 Florence Sunday.

Tuscaloosa jumped out to a 4-0 lead early on, only to see Florence rally with four runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game.

The game was decided, however, in the bottom of the fifth, when Tuscaloosa’s James Franks scored on an RBI single by Andrew Cooke.

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Florence was able to cut the deficit to one in the top of the sixth with a couple of runs, but could get no closer.

Post 11 also threatened to tie the game in the top of the seventh, when it put runners on first and second with one out.

Tuscaloosa’s Taylor Baggett was able to get the save, however, as he struck out Kelly Coleman and got Kevin Isbell to groundout to the second baseman to end the game.

Cooke, who went 3-4 with one RBI, led Tuscaloosa Red’s offense.

Jackson Cruce, Cody Lawrence and Daniel Gamble each contributed an RBI for Tuscaloosa.

Jakob Thomas, who went 2-3 with an RBI, led Florence.

Mitchell Lovell, Cameron Gautney, William Smitherman and Jonathan Beavers all contributed an RBI each for Florence.

Tuscaloosa Red finished 2-1 in Pool A play, while Florence finished 0-3.