McLeod Park’s #1 Rich Gainey hits a home run to left in Saturday’s game agianst Marion. (Photo by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD.)
The seven-team tournament began on Friday with Dillon, Latta, Lake View, Marion, Mullins, McLeod Park, and Maple Park competing for the title and a trip to the state championship tournament. Latta picked up a tough 2-1 win over Mullins, while Lake View shut out Maple Park 10-0 and McLeod Park defeated Dillon 5-3.
On Saturday, Mullins defeated Lake View 10-0 to stay alive in the tournament, while Latta defeated Maple Park and McLeod Park shut down Marion 18-0. McLeod Park’s Gainey and Herbert each hit home runs in the win.
Sunday saw Mullins eliminate Dillon 3-2 and Maple Park defeated Marion while Latta defeated McLeod Park 10-6.
On Monday, Maple Park and McLeod Park battled to stay alive in the tournament. Maple led 4-2 in the top of the third, but McLeod added a run in the bottom of the fourth to trail 4-3. A home run in the bottom of the fifth allowed McLeod Park to tie things 4-4 and the game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when McLeod Park scored one runner to advance in the tournament.
Also on Monday, Latta fell 8-3 to Mullins to set up a three way tie with Latta, McLeod Park, and Mullins having a 3-1 record. But on Tuesday, Latta took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and eliminated Mullins 5-2. Because of the tie, there will be two runner-ups, with Mullins receiving their runner-up trophies on Tuesday.
The tournament was set to wrap up on Wednesday night with Latta and McLeod Park facing off for the championship title.
UPDATE: Latta won Wednesday night’s championship game against McLeod Park. Look for more coverage of the game in Tuesday’s issue of THE DILLON HERALD!
