Troy vs. Troy in coach-pitch district finals

Published 11:00 pm Thursday, June 30, 2011

A 15-11 win over Enterprise Nationals on Thursday sends the Troy Nationals into the finals of the coach-pitch district championship.

The team will face the Troy Americans, who are undefeatd in the tournament, at 6 p.m. today in Enteprise.

The two teams faced each other Wednesday night, both undefeated.

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“The Troy Americans put it on us real good,” Coach Billy Jefcoat said of the 20-8 loss.

“You never really know how resilliant kids are at this age, but they came out and did well tonight,” he added.

Jefcoat said the Troy Nationals led the game early. “But (Enterprise) came back in the third inning and took the lad, 9-6.”

Enterprise moved the lead to 11-6 before Troy “busted it open in the top of the fifth.” With a 13-11 lead going into the sixth, Troy tacked on a couple more runs and put Enteprise away “three-up, three down” to win the game.

“We hit the ball as a team really, really well,” Jefcoat said, adding that the team played together well in the field

However, Jefcoat said the opportunity to face the Troy Americans in the finals was bittersweet.

‘You don’t enjoy playing against your friends,” Jefcoat said. “Do you enjoy the competition? Yes. But even if you win, you don’t have the good feeling like you do tonight, when we beat Enterprise, one of the upper echelon teams in the tournament, for the second time.”

Still, Jefcoat said the upside is obvious:

“It’s an all Troy final. That means somebody from Troy is coming home with a trophy (Friday) night.”