By Lonnie Turner
Here’s a summary of last week’s Minor League Dixie Youth action at the Kiwanis/Lecholop Park:
MINOR LEAGUE
Thursday, May 23
True Value Tigers 7, McLeod Marlins 6
Reggie Graves hit a walk-off two-run double to lead the Tigers to a 7-6 victory over the Marlins in Thursday’s lone Minor League game on Thursday. Trent Johnson tripled and Knox Jackson followed with a double that gave the Marlins a 6-5 lead in the top of the fourth inning, but back came the Tigers to win when Graves drove in Zach Davis and Dylan Windham, who had walked. The Tigers used five different pitchers in the contest with the fifth, P.J. Christian, picking up the win. Johnson had two of the Marlins’ hits and D-Mack Wilson had a two-run single in a big five-run third. The hit by Graves and a lead off single in the last inning by Masen Furr were the only hits for the Tigers.
Friday, May 24
Physicians Healthcare Pirates 5, True Value Tigers 1
Nathan Hyler’s RBI triple and a passed ball resulted in two runs to give the Pirates all the runs they would need to defeat the Tigers on Friday, May 24, but a single by Noah Carter and a triple by Josh Brown, plus Brown’s steal of home gave the winners a cushion to stop the Tigers 5-1.
Carter struck out 13 and threw no-hit ball for five innings in registering the win on the mound and had two hits to lead the Pirates at the plate. Cadillac Hunt beat out an infield hit to account for the fifth hit off Tiger pitching.
Monday, May 27
Physicians Healthcare Pirates 2, McLeod Marlins 1
Back to back singles by Noah Carter and Josh Brown and an error on Justice Ladson’s ground ball resulted in two runs as the Pirates edged the Marlins in Memorial Day’s first game. Brown was the winning pitcher, but needed relief from Carter in the final inning to get the win.
In a losing cause, Steve Johnson allowed only three hits while striking out 13 Pirates and didn’t walk a batter. Lead-off batter Carter was 2-for-2 for the Pirates and Quentin Hunt went 3-for-3 for the Marlins. Johnson had the other hit for the Marlins.
Tuesday, May 28
Pepsi Cola Blue Jays 3, Physicians Healthcare Pirates 2
In the first of two games on Tuesday, the Blue Jays and Pirates, both in the run for the second half championship, locked horns in another close game that was decided in the top of the sixth inning.
The Pirates were riding a 2-0 lead through five innings behind the pitching of Noah Carter, but having only five innings of pitching eligibility, Carter was relieved by Nathan Hyler, who walked the first batter, and Bo-Bo McKinnon reached base on an error. That prompted another pitching change that sent Brandon Bethea to the mound. Nigel George, the first batter to face Bethea, grounded out to second to allow McKinnon to score and Caleb Boykin followed with a single to tie the game.
Charlie Nash Collins gave the Jays a 3-2 lead with a single and McKinnon retired the Pirates in order in the bottom of the sixth. Others with base hits for the Blue Jays were Kris Hunt and Chris Allen.
Noah Carter continues to have a hot bat for the Pirates, going 3-for-3, and Justice Ladson had a double that drove in one of the runs for the Pirates. Josh Brown singled for he Pirates and drove in a run.
Burger King Braves 12, True Value Tigers 7
In the longest game of the year in Tuesday’s second contest, the Burger King Braves scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat the True Value Tigers 12-7.
Burger King took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on hits by Ty Huggins, Gage Hunt, and Jacob Kale, but the Tigers came back in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead on hits by Masen Furr and Mari Huggins and daring base running. The Tigers got an inside the park home run from Huggins and back to back singles from Dylan Windham and Zach Davis in the third to pad the lead to 5-2.
The Braves scored two more runs in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4 and tied the game in the fifth at five runs each without the benefit of a base hit. A triple by Ethan Chestnut and a single by Ty Huggins put the Braves up 7-5 in the top of the sixth, but here came the Tigers to tie with Masen Furr hitting a two-run double to send the game into extra innings at 7-7.
Neither team could score in the seventh and eighth, but when the pitching requirement forced Andrew Bryant from the mound, the Braves erupted for five runs as they sent nine batters to the plate. Gage Hunt’s double that drove in two runs was the big hit in the inning, but three of six walks and a hit batter resulted in all the runs.
The Tigers made a game try in the bottom of the inning, getting a single and a double from Bryant and Mari Huggins, but Cooper Lane, who worked the final six innings for the Braves, recorded his thirteenth strikeout to end the game.
Hunt was 3-for-5 and Ty Huggins went 2-for-3 to lead the Braves and Mari Huggins had three hits in five official at bats to lead the Tigers. Furr also had two hits in five trips for the Tigers.
Thursday, May 30
Burger King Braves 7, McLeod Marlins 1
Gage Hunt threw a one hitter at the Marlins and went 2-for-2 at the plate to lead the Braves to a 7-1 win in Thursday’s Minor League game. Tied at one run each after two innings, the Tigers sent nine batters to the plate, scoring six times in the bottom of the third. Six of the first seven batters reached base and scored before an out was made. Tim Ellerson walked and back-to-back two-base hits by Ty Huggins and Cooper Lane, plus another walk and a single by D.J. Brogdon, resulted in runs scored. Trent Johnson’s single in the first inning was the only hit off Hunt.
Friday, May 31
Pepsi Cola Blue Jays 10, True Value Tigers 0
The Pepsi Blue Jays scored five runs in the first inning and coasted to a 10-0 win over the Tigers in the last Minor League game of week 7 on Friday. The blue-clad Jays scored two more in the second and added three more runs in the third inning to put the game well out of reach.
Caleb Boykin gave up two hits to Mari Bruce and a single to Sha-Kyi Wheeler to get the pitching win. He finished the game with six strike outs and didn’t walk or hit a batter to record his second win against no defeats for the season. Dylan Windham was charged with his fourth loss in six decisions.
