By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

MANCHESTER – They’re the champs.

The Troup County all-stars completed a dominant stay in the Dixie Youth Baseball 7-8-year-old tournament with an 11-1 victory over Lamar County on Monday in the championship game.

Troup County went 4-0, and it won those games by a combined score of 51-5.

Troup County allowed one or fewer runs in three games, and it held its final two opponents to one total run.

Next up for Troup County will be the state tournament with a trip to the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series on the line.

In the district tournament, Troup County started quickly with a 17-1 victory over Schley County on Friday, and it never looked back.

On Saturday, Troup County beat Lamar County 13-3 before blanking Taylor County 10-0, a win that secured a spot in the championship game.

Had Troup County lost on Monday, it would have played Lamar County one more time in the double-elimination tournament.

Troup County took care of business, though, beating Lamar County for the second time in a game that was shortened to five innings because of the run rule.

As was the case throughout the tournament, Troup County’s defense was superb, and the team even turned a triple play.

Offensively, Troup banged out 14 hits, and 10 players had at least one hit.

That included Riley Cockrell, who had three hits and two runs scored.

Trace Bailey and Brody Buc Cofield each had two hits and two RBIs, and Laken Tippy had a hit and three RBIs.

Wyatt Martin, Bear Napier and Hayden Browning each had a hit and an RBI, Sam Burns had a hit and two runs scored, and Ben Schory and Grant Chaffin each had a hit.

Lamar County, which led 2-0 in the first inning of the earlier game against Troup County, scored a run in the top of the first inning on Monday to go up 1-0.

Troup County tied it with a run in the bottom of the first, and it surged ahead with two runs in the second inning.

Troup County began to pull away with four runs in the third inning, and it added a single run in the fourth before ending the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Once the 11th run crossed the plate, the game was over because of the 10-run rule.

TEAM MEMBERS: Trace Bailey, Sam Burns, Grant Chaffin, Bear Napier, Benjamin Schory, Riley Cockrell, Laken Tippy, Cason McGill, Davis Keese, Wyatt Martin, Brody Buc Cofield and Hayden Browning.