By Lonnie Turner
After one week of play, the Dillon Kiwanis Club Dixie Youth Baseball program has three teams unbeaten, including the Dillon Family Dental Giants and the Internal Medicine Hurricanes in the Majors, both with 2-0 records. The Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays have the top spot in the Minors after winning two. The Club officials decided to join the school system with spring break and will resume the season on Monday, April 21.
In Minor League action this past Wednesday evening, the Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays took over sole possession of first place with a 6-4 victory over the Ace Hardware Tigers, despite a daring Tiger comeback that fell two runs short of tying the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Blue Jays scored three runs in the first inning and added another in the third to take a 4-1 lead into the fourth inning and after the Jays tallied two runs in the top of the inning, back came the Tigers with three in their half of the inning before the 80-minute time limit expired.
Ace Hardware out-hit the Jays, 5-2, but two costly fielding errors and a single by Nigel George produced three runs in the top of the first inning. George beat out an infield hit and scored on daring base running to give the Jays a 4-1 lead after three. Pepsi added a pair of insurance runs on walks and two more errors to take a 6-1 lead into the final inning, but consecutive walks to Termarian Davis and Dylan Windham set the stage for run producing singles by Zach Hunt and Quashad Singleton before the time ran out.
Leading batters for the Tigers in a losing cause were Hunt with a pair of singles and base hits by Alex Jensen and Micah Hutto. George collected the only two hits for Pepsi-Cola and recorded his first pitching win.
In the second game on Wednesday, the McLeod Health Marlins edged the Burger King Braves, 5-2, scoring the winning run and two insurance runs in the bottom of the final inning after the game was deadlocked 2-2 after two innings were completed.
Chandler Pittman had the only hit for the winners, knocking in the game deciding run with two on in the fourth. He later scored on a wild pitch. D.J. Brogdon and Jaiden Chandler had a hit apiece for the Braves. Tripp Roberts was awarded the win on the mound and Nathan Ford suffered the loss
On Thursday, the Feed and Farm Store Rangers put their hitting shoes on for their match-up with the Dillon Meat Center Reds and belted out ten hits including a two-run homer by John Rourk, the first round-tripper of the young season. He also tripled the final run home in the bottom of the fifth inning and recorded his first win on the mound with a no-hitter and sixteen strike outs.
Tristian Brigman was perfect at the plate with two singles and a two-run double and Trent Johnson had two hits, including a double and a two-run single, in three plate appearances. Other Rangers with base hits were Jon Michael Davis, Quamez Graves, and Chris Hunt, all with singles. The Reds scored both their runs in the fifth inning on three Ranger errors.
In the second game, the Hurricanes came out on top, 8-5, in a see-saw game with the Physicians Healthcare Yankees. The Canes took a 2-0 lead into the third inning, but the Yankees bounced back in the top of the inning to tie the game on a triple by BoBo McKinnon and scored on an errant throw. Four walks and an infield hit by Jared Darmon in the Hurricane’s half of the inning pushed DIM back into the lead at 4-2. After McKenzie Tanner and Aaron Clewis singled and Azeon Brown walked, Zavian Tyson hit a triple to clear the bases and give the Yankees a 5-4 lead in the fourth. The Hurricanes sent seven batters to the plate in the final inning as time was running out in the 80-minute time limit. Josh Brown’s single sent Braeden Webster across the plate with the tying run and Charlie Collins drove in three more runs to win the game.
Darmon Ivey went three for three at the plate and got credit for the pitching win, even though he pitched to only one batter. Other Hurricanes hitting safely were Cooper Lane (Single, RBI) and Keith Rippy (Double).
Ace Hardware beat the McLeod Health Marlins, 8-4, in Friday’s lone Minor League game that featured a pair of inside the park home runs, the first a two-run homer by Cadillac Hunt in the top half of the third inning for McLeod to take a 4-1 lead, and the other by Tiger pitcher Andrew Bryant, who hit a ball to the fence down the right field line with the bases loaded.
Zach Hunt doubled and scored on Quashawn Singleton’s single to give Ace Hardware a 7-4 lead. The Tigers added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a fielding error and a ground out. Dylan Windham also had a base hit for the winners. In a losing cause, Chandler Pittman tripled to join Hunt with one hit each. Bryant recorded the win on the mound and Pittman was tagged with the loss.
The Dillon Family Dental Giants pounded out eight hits, all in the final two innings, to defeat the Reds, 11-5 in five innings. Quentin Hunt blasted a 2-run shot over the right field fence to take a 4-3 lead and the Giants never looked back. Hunt would go on and get another hit and Nick Evans joined J.J. Grooms with a two-hit performance to lead the eight hit attack by the Giants.
The Reds picked up three hits off starter Chandler Matthews, including an RBI double by Collin Hamilton and singles by Malachi Bember and Nathan Hyler. Chase Dudney, who worked four innings on the mound, took the loss and Matthews was the winning pitcher.
In the final game before spring break, the Hurricanes finished the first week of play tied for the lead with the Giants by defeating the Rangers, 6-1, in the night cap. Tristian Brigman spoiled Jarad Darmon’s bid for a shutout when he blasted a pitch out of the park in the fourth inning. Darmon blasted a pitch over the fence with a teammate on base in the third inning to highlight a five-run rally that put the game out of reach. Darmon also picked up the win, allowing just four hits while striking out eleven and walking none.
Brigman, in his first start on the mound this season, gave up only one hit, the home run by Darmon, and took the loss for the Rangers. Cooper Lane doubled and Charlie Collins joined Keith Rippy with a two-run single each for the winners. In a losing effort, John Rourk and Jackson Stone added singles for the Rangers.
