The Pike County American League 7-year-old all-stars had to win two games at Windsor Gay Youth Complex in Summit to secure the district tournament championship and they accomplished that task.
Facing elimination, the American League defeated the Pike County National League 4-1 in Game 1. With the championship on the line, the American League came from behind to defeat the National League 13-12 in seven innings.
The American League will play in the state tournament in Mendenhall beginning July 8.
“We’ve kept preaching to them since the beginning, since our first practice, listen to the coaches and never give up,” American League head coach Ricky Simpson said. “That’s the two rules that we tried to be persistent with them. They just stuck it out. Everybody just played their hearts out.”
Trailing 8-1 going into the bottom of the fourth of Game 2, the American League scored seven runs to tie things at 8-8.
Eli Chandler singled and scored on a Watts Newman one-run single. Kayden Jackson singled with two runners on, but National League throwing errors allowed all three American League runners to score on the play. Alex Michael Roberts, Jeremy Wilson and Austin Bishop all hit one-run singles to tie things up.
Slade Steele hit an inside-the-park home run for the National League in the top of the fifth to give them a 12-8 lead. Kingston Williams, Brennan Knight and Nick Young all scored on the play.
The American League scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie things at 12-12 and send the game into extra innings.
Newman hit a two-run double while Dakota Criswell and Brayden Simpson each hit one-run singles.
Cayson McKenzie hit a two-out single for the American League in the bottom of the seventh and scored on a Criswell single for the win.
“They played their hearts out tonight,” National League head coach Brian Reeves said of his team after the game. “They gave 100 percent. This is two teams that know each other real well. Everybody hit the ball. We made a few errors on both sides.”
In Game 1, Brayden Simpson had two runs for the American League and Newman had key hits. Newman and Jackson, who stood on the pitcher’s mound, made key defensive plays.
Steele had one of the National League’s three hits in Game 1.
The other games in the district tournament were in Natchez, but Tuesday night’s matchups were moved to Summit since only teams from Pike County were still in the tournament.
The American League opened the tournament with a 20-3 win against Lincoln American and a 20-11 victory against Lincoln National. The American League lost to the Pike County National League 9-8 last Saturday.
“Really, the strength of our defense is the fielding,” Coach Simpson said. “We’ve got a really good defense, solid infield. We made several key plays in the outfield. We’ve got speed and power. We’ve got a mixture of both. We’ve just got a good mixture of kids on the team.”
The National League defeated Walthall County 16-6 and Pine Hills 13-3 earlier in the tournament.
Grayson Reeves and Ryder Martin also hit homers for the National League in the district tournament.
“We’ve got several players on this team that play travel ball,” Coach Reeves said. “A lot of them has got talent. You’ll see them down the road.”
Going forward, the American League will do the same things that earned them the district tournament championship.
“We’re just going to keep pushing along, keep preaching the same thing — discipline, listen to the coaches and never give up,” Coach Simpson said.
