By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

THOMASTON – It was a potentially game-changing moment.

In the top of the fourth inning of the championship game in the Dixie Youth Baseball 9-10-year-old district tournament in Thomaston on Monday night, Troup American thought it had taken the lead when one of its players slid across home-plate with the go-ahead run.

Moments later, though, the umpire changed his call and said the runner missed the plate, so the run was disallowed and the inning was over, and roup America and Thomaston remained tied at 3-3.

In the bottom of the fourth, Thomaston scored a run to take the lead, and momentum seemed to be on the home team’s side.

There was no panic in the Troup American dugout, though.

On Sunday during practice, Troup American head coach Charles Mosley had talked to the players about the importance of not letting adversity negatively affect them.

“We’d talked about staying together,” Mosley said. “We weren’t expecting anything like that, but we talked about staying together when things weren’t going our way. And they did exactly what we talked about the day before at practice.”

In the top of the fifth inning, Troup exploded for seven runs, and it went on to capture a 12-5 victory to claim the district championship.

Earlier on Tuesday, Troup American blanked Thomaston 6-0 to force a winner-take-all game later in the day.

Troup finished the tournament with a 5-1 record, and it won four consecutive elimination games after losing to Troup National 12-11.

“I sent a text to the parents and let them know how proud I was of the kids,” Mosley said. “Everybody played a role, which is the sign of a really good team, when you can rely on everybody one through 12.”

The decisive seven-run rally in the fifth inning of game two began with a Jarred Coggin walk.

After a pitching change, Kaiden Russell’s base hit and an ensuing wild pitch put men on second and third, and Edward Facille followed with an RBI single from the bottom of the order to tie it at 4-4.

Leadoff hitter Chase Mosley then fouled off a handful of two-strike to load the bases, and Shai McCarroll was hit by a pitch to drive in the go-ahead run.

Following another pitching change, Jake Perry’s RBI single pushed the lead to 6-4, and an RBI groundout by Demetrius Hardnett gave Troup American a three-run lead.

Wesley Williams reached on an error allowing another run to score, and after a Slade Hunt walk, Jeremiah Dunn’s two-run single gave Troup American a 10-4 lead.

Thomaston scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth, and Troup American answered with a pair runs in the top of the sixth, with Shai McCarroll driving the ball to right field for a two-run single.

Troup American opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first, with Wesley Williams delivering a two-run single

After Thomaston took the lead, Troup American tied it with one run in the fourth inning.

Jeremiah Dunn’s RBI single tied it, and Parker Townsend followed with a base hit that appeared to have scored another run, but the umpire’s decision wiped that run off the board.

Troup took the lead, this time for good, with its seven runs in the fifth inning.

On the pitcher’s mound, Jake Perry did a terrific job in relief to get the win.

Demetrius Hardnett started and pitched into the second inning, and Perry threw the final 4 2/3 innings.

In the first game, Thomaston had no answers for Troup American pitchers Chase Mosley and Jeremiah Staples, who combined for the shutout in the 6-0 victory.

Mosley started and pitched the first four innings, and Jeremiah Staples threw the final two innings.

Offensively, Troup American got all the offense it would need in the first inning when it pushed two runs across.

Troup American added a single run in the second inning, two more in the third, and one in the sixth.

In the first inning, Chase Mosley led off with a single and Shai McCarroll reached on an error, and they both came around to score.

Demetrius Hardnett and Jeremiah Staples both reached on errors later in the inning.

Troup added to its lead with a run in the top of the second.

Jeremiah Dunn singled and scored when Jarred Coggin reached on an error.

In the bottom of the second, some nifty defense helped Troup American maintain the shutout.

Center fielder Parker Townsend made a nice running catch, and third baseman Jeremiah Staples made a terrific stop on a groundball, and first baseman Demetrius Hardnett scooped the ball out of the first for the out.

Troup American went up 5-0 with two runs in the third inning.

After an Edward Facille walk and a Chase Mosley sacrifice bunt, back-to-back RBI doubles by Jake Perry and Demetrius Hardnett gave Troup American a 5-0 lead.

Troup American capped the scoring with a run in the top of the sixth.

Demetrius Hardnett reached on a two-out triple, and he scored on a base hit by Jeremiah Staples.

TEAM MEMBERS

Jarred Coggin, Jeremiah Dunn, Edward Facille, Demetrius Hardnett, Slade Hunt, Shai McCarroll, Chase Mosley, Jake Perry, Kaiden Russell, Jeremiah Staples, Parker Townsend and Wesley Williams. COACHES: Charles Mosley (head coach), Bryan Starling, Ryan Gatens and Roland Harris