By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

MANCHESTER – That’s more like it.

After a rough start to the Dixie Youth Baseball 9-10-year-old district tournament, the Troup National all-stars were back on the field on Sunday looking to avoid elimination.

Troup National delivered an impressive performance, overwhelming Schley 14-4 in a game shortened to four innings because of the run rule.

Troup National lost to Thomaston 15-3 on Friday, and after a day off, it came through with a dominant effort on Sunday to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.

Troup National faces another elimination game today when it plays Troup National at 7 p.m. in Manchester.

“This team is so young,” Troup National head coach Chad Marchman said. “They were a little jittery that first game. We practiced (Saturday). We hadn’t been on the field in a week. We did infield, and we worked on hitting. The pitching’s a lot slower than what a lot of them are used to.”

Troup National showed no signs of jitters in Sunday’s game with six first-inning runs to take control.

Jay Johnson and Davis Moncus led off with back-to-back base hits, and Demetrius Hardnett followed with an RBI single.

After Sammari Pope walked, Jaxson Jones delivered a two-run double, and Troup National led 4-0.

Jake Perry kept things going with an RBI single, and with two outs, Waylon Pemberton delivered a run-scoring hit to give Troup National a 6-0 lead.

Troup National scored four more runs in the top of the second, with Hardnett coming through with the big hit.

The inning started with Parker Townsend, Jeremiah Staples and Johnson walking to load the bases, and Hardnett then drove the ball to right field for a three-run triple.

Hardnett later scored on an error, and Troup National led 10-0.

In the third inning, Chandler Glisson’s RBI groundout scored Parker Marchman, and Troup National had an 11-0 lead.

Schley rallied for four runs in the bottom of the third, but Troup National came right back with three runs in the top of the fourth.

Moncus had an RBI single, and Troup National scored two other runs on an error and a wild pitch, and the lead was 14-4.

Schley was unable to score a run in the bottom of the fourth, so Troup had the win via the run rule.

Moncus was Troup National’s starting pitcher, and he pitched the first three innings.

Gray Hester pitched the fourth inning to finish it.

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