Solid showing for Troup all-stars
Published 9:44 pm Sunday, June 17, 2018
By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
MANCHESTER – After a rocky start, the Troup County all-stars put together a two-game winning streak before meeting their match in the Dixie Youth Baseball 7-8-year-old District 1 tournament.
Troup County’s tournament stay began with a 15-2 loss to Lamar County on Friday, but it rebounded to beat Schley County 13-6 to remain alive in the double-elimination tournament.
Troup was back at the Manchester recreation complex on Saturday morning needing another win to avoid elimination, and it made it happen with a 15-12 victory over Thomaston.
Unfortunately for Troup County, its tournament run came to a close with a 15-5 loss to Lamar County.
It was still a successful tournament for a team composed of players new to all-star baseball.
“They’ve been a fantastic group of kids,” Troup head coach Charlie Metcalf said following Friday’s games. “They’ve got good attitudes. They want to play ball. They’re so young. They’re second and third-graders, and they’re learning the game still. We’re able to work with them, and they’re a real coachable group of kids.”
After getting on the winning track with a victory on Friday night, Troup County was back on the field at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday against Thomaston.
There was plenty of suspense, with Thomaston bringing the tying run to the plate in the sixth and final inning, but Landon Allen made a basket catch in the outfield for the third and final out.
It looked like Troup County was going to ease to the victory after taking an 8-1 lead in the second inning, but Thomaston kept fighting and made a game of it before falling short.
Troup County started quickly with six runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Landon Allen did his part with an RBI triple, RJ Dunn had a run-scoring hit, and Gardner Cain and Brady Hembree had hits in the inning.
Troup County scored two more runs in the second inning, with Jax Campbell coming through with an RBI triple.
After Thomaston scored four runs in the top of the third to get within three, Troup County scored two more runs in bottom of the third, and Dunn had an RBI double in the inning.
Troup scored three additional runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up 13-8.
Brody Douhne and Drew Burch helped set the table with base hits.
Campbell then ripped the ball into the outfield for a two-run single, and Cain’s RBI hit drove in another run.
Thomaston was held scoreless in the top of the fifth thanks to some nifty Troup County defense.
Dunn come through a terrific diving catch in the outfield, and Douhne made a nice catch on a pop-up at first base for the third out.
Troup County added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Roy Claybrook and Allen got things started with base hits, and Cooper Metcalf and Braylon Smith followed with RBI singles, and the lead was 15-8.
Thomaston pushed four runs across in the sixth inning, but Troup County minimized the damage with some outstanding defense.
In addition to the game-ending grab by Allen, Claybrook made a nice catch at third base, and Campbell cleanly fielded a ball at shortstop.
TEAM MEMBERS: Jax Campbell, Gardner Cain, Roy Claybrook, Landon Allen, Cooper Metcalf, Brady Hembree, RJ Dunn, Braylon Smith, Axle Smith, Brody Douhne, Hunter Orr and Drew Burch.
