By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

THOMASTON – With their backs against the wall, the Troup National number one all-stars came out swinging.

Facing Troup National number two in a must-win game on Monday in the Dixie Youth Baseball 9-10-year-old district tournament in Thomaston, Troup National number one put up 12 runs in the second inning on the way to 15-0 victory.

That win assured Troup number one of a spot in the state tournament, while the summer season came to a close for Troup number two.

Troup number one beat Thomaston-Upson County 9-1 later on Monday, and those same two teams will play again on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the district championship.

Both Troup teams lost to Thomaston earlier in the double-elimination tournament, setting up Monday’s key game.

Troup number one and Thomaston will represent the district in the state tournament in Cochran.

Troup number one opened with a win over Manchester on Friday before losing a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Thomaston on Saturday.

Troup national number two, meanwhile, lost to Thomaston 3-1 on Friday before thumping Manchester 13-1 on Saturday.

While the season ended on a disappointing note, Troup number two head coach Jake Hembree was proud of what his team accomplished over the past month.

“We had 17 practices, we played eight games and went 5-3, and I think our team batting average over 400,” Hembree said. “You can’t ask for much more. It was free baseball. It was eight games, which is two-thirds of their recreation season.”

After two solid performances in the district tournament, Hembree hoped his team could hang with a strong Troup number one team, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“That was our worst nightmare pulling them, because we know what they have,” Hembree said. “I’m excited to see what they can accomplish. They’ve got a lot of potential.”

In Monday’s game, Troup number one grabbed a 1-0 first-inning lead on an RBI groundout by Cass Fuller.

In the second inning, Troup number one sent 18 batters to the plate on the way to the 12-run outburst.

Cason Spears had a two-run double, Brody Swanson and Nolan Haines each had two-run singles, and Kaiden Russell, Chase Mosley, Torreion Delaney, Brady Willis and Woods Carter had RBI singles.

Swanson and Russell each had two hits in the inning, Kaleb Woodson had a single, and EJ Facille had an RBI.

Troup number one finished it with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, with Fuller driving in a pair of runs with a base hit.

Chase Mosley was the starting and winning pitcher, and he threw three shutout innings before Torreion Delaney finished things off with a scoreless fourth inning.

On Saturday, Troup number one dropped a tough 4-3 decision to Thomaston.

Troup scored all three of its runs in the fourth inning.

Kaleb Woodson had an RBI single, and Brody Swanson knocked in two runs with a base hit.

Troup number two, meanwhile, had a breakout performance in a 13-1 win over Manchester in a must-win game.

Troup took control from the get-go with four runs in the first inning.

Brady Hembree got Troup on the board with an RBI single, and Matthew Gatens and Cooper Kelly also had RBI hits in the inning.

It was a 4-1 game when Troup busted it open with 10 runs in the fourth inning.

After Jase Foster, Tyler Langford’s inside-the-park home run plated two runs and pushed the lead to 6-1.

Jackson Butts and Roy Claybrook had RBI singles later in the inning, and Rylan Cantrell and Gatens had back-to-back bases-loaded walks to push the lead to 11-1.

Foster capped the scoring with a two-run single.

Kelly was Troup’s starting pitcher, and he threw three solid innings before Butts pitched a scoreless fourth inning.

The game ended after four innings bec