Still playing: Troy Dixie Boys fight off elimination by defeating Ozark 4-3 in Enterprise

Published 3:00 am Thursday, June 30, 2016

Photo/dan smith Troy received a two-run home run by Caden Bryan in the second inning and held on to beat Ozark 4-3 in the district tournament on Wednesday night. Troy will now advance to take on Enterprise later this evening at 6 p.m.

Photo/dan smith
Troy received a two-run home run by Caden Bryan in the second inning and held on to beat Ozark 4-3 in the district tournament on Wednesday night. Troy will now advance to take on Enterprise later this evening at 6 p.m.

The Troy Dixie Boys were able to stave off elimination by defeating Ozark 4-3 in a pitchers’ duel on Wednesday.

After playing deep into the night on Tuesday night Troy came out a little flat, according to head coach Kevin Bryan.

“We came out a little flat after that late night last night,” Bryan said. “We didn’t seem to have very much energy. We battled and did just enough to win a ball game, and I was proud of them for that.”

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Ozark jumped out to a 1-0 lead after sending five men to the plate.

Troy jumped on the board in the second inning after Caleb Gamble reached on and error and came into score on a two-run home run by Caden Bryan.

“They turned a double play in the first inning that kind of gave them the momentum,” Bryan said. “The home run was a big play for us. It kind of got us pumped back up a little bit. It made everyone relies that we were there to play a little baseball.”

Ozark was able to even the score in the second when they sent seven men to the plate and scored a run on an error.

Troy pulled ahead in the fourth inning. Ty Singleton led off the inning and came around to score when Gamble reached base on an error.

Troy tacked on their final run of the game in the fifth inning when Galloway reached base on a single. He was followed up by Jaylen Deveridge who reached base on a single and by Payne Griffin who reached via the error.

Ozark scored their final run in the fifth inning when their leadoff man got on base after an error by Troy’s centerfielder. The run came around to score on a one out base hit.

Ty Singleton took the mound and pitched the game’s first two innings. He allowed two runs before being replaced by Javaris McNair, who pitched the game’s final three innings while allowing just one run.

“Ty came in and threw the ball pretty well,” Bryan said. “He had some bloop hits on him in the infield, but he did a good job. Javaris really zoned in on the strike zone. He was able to put the ball on the bottom of the strike zone to give us a chance. He came in and did really well in relief.”

Troy finished with seven hits led by Bryan who went 2-3 with a homerun and a single.

Troy will advance to play Enterprise whom they would have to beat twice to take home the district championship

“We are going to throw everything we have at them and see where we stick,” Bryan said.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m on Wednesday at Griffin Field in Enterprise.