Lebanon Blue 6
Smith County White 0
The District 2 8U Coach Pitch Tournament began this past Monday, July 6th, evening at the beautiful Harold “Slick” Collins Memorial Field located at Crump Paris Park. Among a crowd of nearly 150 people, the action kicked off with the lone Smith County team left in 8U tourney playing host to the Lebanon Blue All Stars.
Lebanon Blue got the scoring started early as they pushed across two runs in the first on a pair of singles and three errors by the Smith County defense. Smith County came back in their half of the first, loading the bases on singles by J Foster and Paxton Hix then an error allowing Nolan Kelley to reach, but Lebanon Blue’s outfield was ready as Brody Sykes smashed a ball to their right fielder who caught it on the run to end the threat. Lebanon Blue then pushed across one more in the third behind a single and two more errors by the Smith County defense extending the advantage to 3-0. In the fourth, Lebanon Blue extended the lead once again pushing the lead to 6-0 behind three run inning paced by four singles. Smith County never seemed to get anything going after the first as Lebanon Blue cruised to an opening victory 6-0.
Lebanon Blue had seven hits in the contest. They were led by Will Wright who had two hits on the night. Wright was followed by Jack Greer, Peyton Laws, Brayden Taylor, Camden Johnson, and Maddox Njezic who each had one hit.
Smith County was led by J Foster, Paxton Hix, Brody Sykes, and Case Collins who each had one hit. With the loss, Smith County was set to face the Sparta All Stars who lost to Lebanon Gold 14-5 in a loser’s bracket elimination game.
Smith County White 12
Sparta All Stars 7
After both team’s lost their previous contests on Monday, the loser’s bracket elimination game in the night cap of action this past Tuesday night, July 7th, at the beautiful Crump Paris Park. With both teams needing a win, as you could guess the magic in the bag was pulled out by both coaches. After nearly an hour and half rain delay, the magic of sour Skittles came to benefit the Smith County boys.
Smith County struck for three in the first behind a single from Jett Underwood and triple from J Foster to give them an early 3-0 lead. Sparta retaliated in the second as they pushed across two of their own, but Smith County once again was not going to be denied as they pushed across five more behind hits from Cole Hackett, Dalton Watts, Wyatt Claywell, Jett Underwood, and Alex Bush to extend the lead to 8-2. Sparta was able to tack on one more in their of half of the third and fourth innings to cut it to 8-4, but Smith County responded in their half of the fourth with two of their own to make it 10-4 on hits from Brody Sykes and Will George. Sparta retaliated with three of their own to make it 10-7, but Smith County slammed the door in the fifth as they pushed across two more runs on three Sparta errors to win the contest 12-7. Smith County advanced to the semi-finals where they would face off with the Lebanon Blue All Stars in a big rematch.
Smith County was led at the plate by Jett Underwood who had two hits on the night. Underwood was followed by Alex Bush, J Foster, Brody Sykes, Cole Hackett, Will George, Dalton Watts, and Wyatt Claywell who each had one hit.
Sparta was led by Mason Steel and Eli Scoggins who each had two hits in the contest. They were followed by Kayden Sanders, Gabriel Baker, Nicolas Nelson, and Jonathan Lohorn who each had one hit.
Smith County White 9
Lebanon Blue 7
The semifinals of the District 2 8U Tournament featured the Smith County White All Stars taking on the Lebanon Blue All Stars on Wednesday, July 8th, at Harold “Slick” Collins Memorial Field. With a win, Smith County White would be two wins from the District 2 Championship and a trip to the state tournament.
From the first inning, Smith County seized control and never looked back as they pushed across five runs on two errors and hits from Brody Sykes, Dalton Watts, Nolan Kelley, and Mason Greer. Lebanon Blue pushed across two in their half to cut the lead to 5-2, Smith County responded in the third tacking on two more on an error and hits from Nolan Kelley and Paxton Hix to extend the lead to 7-2. Lebanon Blue responded with three of their own to cut the lead to 7-5, but Smith County once again extended the lead to 9-5 on an error and hits from J Foster and Brody Sykes. Lebanon Blue would not go down quietly as they pushed across two of more in the sixth to cut the lead to 9-7, but with the tying runs on first and second, Smith County Shortstop J Foster fielded a grounder with two outs and flipped it to the third basemen to send Smith County to the championship game on Thursday. After a clean handshake, the dogpile occurred sealing a great night of action in Smith County.
Smith County was led by Brody Sykes and Nolan Kelley who each had two hits. They were followed by J Foster, Dalton Watts, Paxton Hix, and Mason Greer who each had one hit.
Lebanon Blue was led by Ayden Moore who had three hits. Moore was followed by Antwan Abston, Mason Hallum, Madox Hallum, Brayden Taylor, and Camden Johnson who each had one hit.
