By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

With his team’s season on the line, Troup American’s Slone Raper was up to the challenge.

With Tuesday’s Dixie Youth Baseball district tournament game between Troup American and Thomaston deadlocked at 3-3, Raper stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and the winning run standing on third.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play and send Colson (Blackburn) home,” Raper said. “That’s all I was worried about.”

After falling behind 0-2, Raper nearly went down swinging, but he just managed to check his swing.

On the next pitch, Raper chopped the ball between the third baseman and the shortstop, bringing Blackburn in with the winning run and giving Troup American a 4-3 victory.

“It just felt so great,” Raper said of his game-winning hit.

Troup American’s reward is a berth in the championship game against Troup National today, as well as an invitation to the Dixie Youth Baseball state tournament.

Cortney Laye, who pitched four dominant innings in relief, was the winning pitcher.

Laye came into the game in the top of the fifth, and he didn’t allow any runs while giving up just one hit with eight strikeouts.

Colby Bridwell started and pitched four solid innings for Troup.

After Troup’s Larkin Easterwood tied the game at 3-3 with a single in the bottom of the fourth, the game was taken over by the pitchers.

Neither team managed another run until Troup’s eighth-inning rally.

With one out, Blackburn and Andrew Askew reached on walks, and both players advanced on a wild pitch, setting up Raper’s heroics.

“We’ve been a battling team from the get-go, and we battled tonight,” Troup head coach Perry Prather said. “We’re exited to be there. And I sure am proud of them.”

After Thomaston scored two early unearned runs, Troup fought back to tie it with two runs in the third.

Bridwell made it a 2-1 game with an RBI double, and he later scored the tying run on an error.

Thomaston reclaimed the lead on Cory Ellerbee’s double in the top of the fourth, but Troup came right back with a run in the bottom of the inning.

Trevor Norris led off with a single, moved to second and then third on bunts by David Sweat and Jarred Helton, and scored on Easterwood’s base hit.

Prather said Blackburn, the team’s catcher, deserves a lot of credit for the victory.

“Cole Blackburn, I don’t think he had one (pitch) get by him tonight,” Prather said. “That was awesome. He really played hard.”

Troup improved to 3-1 in the tournament, with its only loss coming to Troup National on Sunday.

Troup National, which has an unbeaten record in the tournament, had one big inning in that game on the way to an 8-1 victory.

If Troup American wins today, a final game would be played Thursday at 6 p.m.

“I’m looking for big things,” Prather said. “I’ve got most of my pitchers ready to go. We’re pretty deep (pitching wise).”