O-Zone rook, DM rook, PM All-Stars off to fast start at state
Published 10:29 pm Monday, July 7, 2014
A trio of Troy All-Star baseball teams didn’t spend their Independence Day weekend lounging on the beach or lighting cheap colored gunpowder. They spent it working to win a state title.
The Troy O-Zone Rookies, Dixie Minor Rookies and Pitching Machine All-Stars made a clean sweep of their state tournament games over the weekend. Each team won a pair of games, notching a 6-0 clip for the weekend.
O-Zone Rookies: Troy opened the tournament Saturday evening with a 15-3 rout of Moulton. Troy pounded out 17 hits in the opening game, and used a six-run third inning to put the game out of reach. Pitchers J.D. Wilson and Connor Thrash combined to allow just five hits in the game.
On Sunday, Troy clawed out of a late 10-run defecit to claim a wild 16-15 win over Decatur National. Troy trailed 13-3 entering the fifth inning, but racked up seven runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth inning to rally back for the win. Troy pieced together eight hits in the seven-run fifth to climb back in the game. In the sixth, Decatur intentionally walked Wilson to load the bases and set up a force play at the plate. However, a wild pitch allowed Kase Chirico to score and give Troy a wild 16-15 win. Mario Davenport and Bryce Betts went 4-for-4 at the plate to lead Troy. Every batter in the lineup had at least one base hit.
Dixie Minor Rookies: The Troy Dixie Minor Rookies outscored its two weekend opponents by the combine score of 26-2 to open their state tournament on a roll. Troy downed Montgomery American 13-2 on Saturday, and rolled past Muscle Shoals 13-0 Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, Troy scored seven runs on five hits in the top of the first, with two coming on a frozen-rope single to right off the bat of Scott Taylor Renfroe. Anthony Gurba led Troy at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Troy led early on Sunday against Muscle Shoals, but slammed the door with an eight-run third inning en route to a 13-0 win. Levi Sikes led the way for Troy at the dish, knocking in three runs with two base hits. On the bump, Davis Allen and Avery Ernsberger combined to throw a four-inning, one-hit shutout. Allen tossed three innings of one-hit baseball, before handing it off to Ernsberger for the final three outs of the game.
Pitching Machine: Since their first game played together at the District Tournament, the Troy Pitching Machine All-Stars have swung a mighty bat. The big swings continued at the state tournament in Prattville over the weekend. Troy demolished Athens American 29-6 in the opening game of the weekend Saturday afternoon.
Troy racked up 34 hits in just 43 at-bats, and no Troy player struck out. On Sunday, Troy once again scored double digits by downing Thomasville 12-5.
However, Troy fell to Muscle Shoals on Monday 10-9. The Troy team will look to fend off elimination Tuesday at 11 a.m.