By Lonnie Turner

The second half of the Dillon Kiwanis Dixie Youth Baseball Program began on Monday with the first half champion Dillon Family Dental Giants picking up where they left off last week. Ray-Ray McGirt threw one-hit ball through five innings and tripled at the plate to register two RBIs in a 7-2 win over the Cotton’s Grocery Reds and then on Thursday the boys in black blasted 11 hits in a 14-2 thumping of the James Lockemy Justice Rangers.

In Minor League action, the Burger King Braves (4-6 overall) won on Monday and Tuesday to move into first place in the second half of play, even though the team still trails the True Value Tigers in the overall standings by 3-1/2 games. The Tigers (7-2-1) have a rain out game and a suspended game to finish with the McLeod Health Marlins. At the end of the season, which is set for June 17, the first and second half teams in each league will square off for a one-game playoff to determine a champion on Monday, June 20. The Major League champs will also play on that same Monday if there is a first and second half champ.

Minor League

Monday, May 16
Burger King Braves 6, True Value 4

Davis Lockamy’s bases loaded walk gave the Braves a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the third inning on Monday. Hunter Pittman’s two-run double, also with the bases full, sparked the four-run rally that pulled the Tigers to within a run, 5-4, but the Braves battled back in the next inning with Noah Henderson driving in his second run of the game with a triple that scored J.J. Hodge, who had led off the inning with a single, with an all important insurance run. Henderson relieved starting pitcher John Rourke with only one out and the bases loaded in the big third to record the save for Rourke (3-2). The Braves scored three runs in the opening frame on a double by Rourke and five bases on balls. Barnes Causey also hit safely for the winners.

Tuesday, May 17
Burger King Braves 5, Physicians Healthcare Pirates 3

Barnes Causey made good his first start of the season as a staring pitcher in a 5-3 win for the Braves and a 2-0 start for his team in the second half. He struck out 12 Pirates before giving way to John Rourke in the top of the sixth. An error, an infield single by Ryan Stephens and back to back hits by Jackson Hayes and Jared Ivey produced two runs to close the lead to 5-3. Causey hit Joseph Desser with a pitch to load the bases and Rourke retired the only batter he faced on strikes to preserve the win. Zack Wilkes had 2 hits in 2 trips to the plate and Davis Lockamy went 2 for 3 to lead the Braves. Rourke was also busy at the plate with a double and Malachi Bember drove in a run with a single. Jared Ivey enjoyed a perfect night with his bat for the Pirates with three hits in as many times at bat. Ryan Stephens also singled and scored a run and Jackson Hayes drove in a run with an infield hit for the Pirates and Cross Campbell’s single scored Ivey with their first run in the second inning.

True Value Tigers 9, Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 2

Hunter Pittman hit and pitched the Tigers to a 9-2 win over the Blue Jays in Tuesday’s second game. The hard throwing right hand pitcher struck out 14 and allowed six hits to get the win and went 2 for 4 to drive in four runs, including a two-run single. The winning RBI came in the second inning when Cody White doubled to score Dawson Perritt in a 3-run rally. Dray Thompson also singled for the winners. Taking the loss on the mound, Kolby Watts allowed only four hits and recorded 13 strike outs, but hit three batters and walked six in the six-inning complete game. The Jays bunched three of their six hits in the fourth inning to score their only two runs. Cole Carroll opened the inning with a triple and scored when Kobe King followed with a double. Two batters later, Watts looped a single just out of reach of the Tiger’s second baseman to get King home. Hunter Lane and Nick Evans also had base hits for the Jays.

Thursday, May 19
Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 9, McLeod Health Marlins 3

Kobe King threw a no-hitter at the Marlins in a 9-3 win for the Blue Jays, but his ten walks and two hit batters allowed the Marlins to score three runs in the time shortened game that lasted only three innings. Hunter Lane collected two hits to lead the Jays at the plate and King added a triple to open the game. Kolby Watts drove in two runs in the third and scored on Lane’s second hit of the game.

Friday, May 20
McLeod Health Marlins 8, Physicians Healthcare Pirates 6

The Marlins scored four runs in the second inning and four more in the fourth and hung on to beat the Pirates, 8-6, despite a big 6-run Pirate rally in the last inning. Tristian Brigman hit three singles in his three times at bat and drove in three runs to lead the Marlins to a split of their two games during the week and Mason Bailey was perfect at the plate with two doubles and an RBI. Jordan Lane drove in a run with a single for the winners and Collin Hamilton’s base hit scored another for the Marlins. The Pirates sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the final inning. Jackson Hayes doubled to lead off the inning and Jared Ivey sent him home with a single and he scored on a wild pitch. Micah Garcia drove in two more runs with a single and the final run scored when Ryan ended the game with a base hit. Garcia had two hits and Trent McNeill hit a double for the Pirates. Brigman was the winning pitcher striking out 10.

Major League

Monday, May 16
Dillon Family Dental Giants 7, Cotton’s Grocery Reds 2

Dylan Ivey hit a two-run home run and Rameer Sowells had an RBI single to give Ray-Ray McGirt all the help he would need to notch his fifth game of the season in six starts. The hard throwing lefty allowed only an infield hit by Jon-Mitchell Carter in the first inning, but experienced some control problems throughout the game walking nine. He struck out nine to run his league-leading total to 74 for the season. Ivey and Sowells collected two hits apiece to lead the Giants’ 8-hit attack and Thomas Evans joined Cletus Williams and Kaleb Johnson with a hit each for the winners.

Thursday, May 19
Dillon Family Dental Giants 14, James Lockemy Justice Rangers 2

Connor Anderson and McGirt went deep with a two-run homer apiece and in addition to a 2 for 3 performance at the plate, starting pitcher Tommy Evans allowed only three hits to get the win. Anderson and McGirt combined to score six runs and collect five of the 11 hits by the Giants. Lead off batter Rameer Sowell was on base when McGirt and Anderson homered and scored his third run of the game when Anderson singled in a 5-inning second inning. Of the eleven hits by the Giants, the first four batters collected eight of them and La’Cedrick Davis had a run scoring double. Other hits for the winners were singles by Kaleb Johnson and Dylan Ivey. The only hits off winning pitch Tommy Evans were singles by Nash Miller, Ereck Eck and Pee Wee Wilson.

Dillon Internal Medicine Hurricanes 5, Jackie Hayes B.B. Yankees 3

The Hurricanes won for the first time this season with a 5-3 thriller over the Yankees in the Thursday nightcap. The Canes took advantage of three walks, a hit batter and two errors in the third inning to score four runs and to take a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the inning. After getting the first Yankee batter on strikes, Avery McCall ran into control problems issuing free passes to Jordan Hyatt and Nick Smith. Bubba Barnes followed and beat out an infield hit to load the bases, but McCall got Ian Patterson on a called strike three. Hyatt and Smith cut the lead to two runs when McCall walked Noel Miller and Josh Hicks before getting Darious Boatwright to ground out to first. Smith was called to the mound to pitch to the Hurricanes in their last at bat and struck out the side. With the lead, the ‘Canes went to Rakeem Fletcher to pitch to the Yankees in the bottom of the inning and quickly retired the first two batters that he faced. Hyatt kept the Yankee hopes alive with a double to the left field fence, but Fletcher got Smith to hit a game ending ground ball to second base. The only hits for the winners came in the first inning when Dymel Berry led off the game with a hit and scored on a double by McCall. In addition to the two hits by Hyatt and Smith, Xavier McMillan doubled in a run for the Yankees in the second inning.

Friday, May 20
James Lockemy Justice Rangers 4, Jackie Hayes B.B. Yankees 3

For the second straight evening, the Yankees were denied victory in another close game, falling 4-3 to the Rangers in an extra inning thriller. Of the six games lost this season, five have been by two runs or under, losing a pair of 1-0 games to the Giants and the one run loss to the Rangers Friday evening, which dropped them to last place with a 0-3 record in the second half of the season. The Rangers scored three runs in the fourth inning to erase a 2-0 lead that the Yankees had taken in the first. Matthew Buckner put the Rangers on the scoreboard with a double that sent Luke Price across the plate and a Ross Carlyle single gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead scoring Buckner and Nash Miller, who had reached base on a fielding error. The Yankees scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth to tie the game and Darious Boatwright, on the mound in relief of starting pitcher Nick Smith retired the Rangers in order to send the game into extra innings. Ereck Eck, who had taken to the mound in relief of starter Pee Wee Wilson in the sixth, earned the victory when he singled with two out in the final at bat for the Rangers sending James Harley home with the winning run. Smith collected all three Yankee hits and Wilson had the fourth hit for the winners.

The Cotton’s Grocery Reds won over the Dillon Internal Medicine Hurricanes by forfeit in Friday’s final scheduled game.