By Lonnie Turner

Champions in the Minor and Major Leagues of Kiwanis Dixie Baseball were crowned during the fourth week and half-way point of the season.

In the Majors, the Dillon Family Dental Giants, behind the one-hit pitching of Ray-Ray McGirt, edged the Justice Rangers, a team sponsored by Judge James Lockemy, 3-2, on Thursday. The Giants (6-2) scored all of their runs in the top of the fourth inning when the first six batters reached base as a result of four consecutive hits, a fielder’s choice, and a fielding error.

Ranger pitcher Ereck Eck was breezing along with a one-hit shutout through the first three innings before McGirt singled and scored on a triple by Rameer Sowells to tie the game at 1-1. Kaleb Johnson’s single scored Sowells and Josh Hunt sent him to third on a single, but Johnson was cut down at the plate trying to score on a passed ball. Mason Bailey reached base on a fielder’s choice back to the mound that scored Hunt with the third run to put the giants up, 3-2. The Rangers scored on an error and two wild pitches in the sixth before McGirt settled down to record his 17th strikeout of the game.

Sowells and Johnson led the winners with two hits apiece and Eck’s RBI double in the first inning that gave the early 1-0 lead was the only Ranger’s hit off McGirt.

In the Minor League, the Physicians Healthcare Pirates came out with bats blazing to take an 11-1 decision over the previously undefeated McLeod Health Marlins to take the first half crown. The only loss for the Pirates this season was a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Marlins on April 17. Tristian Brigman gave the Marlins a quick 1-0 lead when he walked and scored on a couple of passed balls, but the Pirates came back in the second inning to score six runs on three hits, two errors and three walks off Brigman.

Noah Carter’s two out single scored a pair of runs to prompt a pitching change that sent Collin Hamilton to the mound, but the Pirates continued to hit the ball well. Jared Ivey greeted Hamilton with a double and Jared Darmon, the ninth batter in the inning, was hit by a pitch to drive a run across the plate to end the rally.

Trent Johnson pitched the final two innings for the Marlins, giving up four more hits and as many runs to give the Pirates the win under the ten-run rule. Darmon hurled a no-hitter, allowing only six base runners through his four innings on the mound to run his pitching record to 6-0.

Carter went 3-for-3 with a double and four runs batted in to lead all batters. Also contributing to the nine-hit attack were Quamez Graves with a double and a single, Darmon (single), Trent McNeill (single) and Josh Brown (single).

Week 4 Summary
Minor league
Tuesday, May 1
Physicians Healthcare Pirates 16, True Value Tigers 2

Five Pirates had multiple hits in a 13-hit, 16-2 win over the Tigers Tuesday evening. Jared Ivey led the way with a perfect 3-for-3 and with two hits apiece were Trent McNeill (double, single, four rbi), Nathan Hyler (triple, single, three rbi), Noah Carter (two singles) and Jared Darmon (two singles). Josh Brown also had a two-run single and Jackson Elrod singled in two trips to the plate.

Carter was the winning pitcher, allowing two hits, both coming back to back in the third inning of the 3-inning contest. Heath Brown’s double scored Chase Dudney, who had hit a one-out single before his at-bat.

Burger King Braves 12, Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 7

Malachi Bember’s bases loaded double highlighted a six-run rally to give the Braves an early 9-3 lead over the Blue Jays in the second inning and after the Jays pulled to within two runs, 9-7, with a four-run rally of their own in the third, two singles and two fielding miscues resulted in three more runs as the Braves held on to a 12-7 victory.

Bember and Cooper Lane led the Braves with two hits apiece and Barnes Causey joined Zach Wilkes with rbi doubles. The Blue Jays got a two-hit performance from Nick Evans, including a two-run double in the big third inning. Charlie Nash Collins singled to score two of the four runs and Merdick Williams also hit safely in a losing cause.

Thursday, May 3
Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 6, True Value Tigers 5

Chris Hunt’s double with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning drove in the tying and winning runs in a hard fought 6-5 win over the Tigers in Thursday’s lone Minor League game. In the seesaw battle, the Tigers scored first when Ahmari Bruce walked and scored on Chase Dudney’s single in the first inning, but the Jays bounced back in the bottom of the inning and tied it when Merdick Williams was hit by a pitch and scored on two passed balls. Dawson Perritte’s rbi single sparked a four-run third for the Tigers only to have Pepsi come back with three to tie in the bottom of the inning on hits by Caleb Boykin and Charlie Nash Collins. Not to be out-done, True Value regained the lead with an unearned run in the top of the fourth to set up the winning rally for the Blue Jays in their final at-bat.

Collins led the Jays with two hits, and for the Tigers, Zach Davis singled and walked twice and Jeffrey Grooms had a single.

Major League
Thursday, May 3
Cotton’s Grocery Reds 2, BB Yankees 0

Jon Mitchell Carter tripled to score John Purnell, who had singled in the second inning, to give the Reds the only run needed to win over the Yankees, 2-0, in Thursday’s first Major League game and Noah Henderson singled and scored an insurance run on a two-out single by Jacory McCall in the fourth.

Henderson pitched a complete game to get the win allowing six hits and striking out seven. Carter also had a single to lead the Reds with two hits in three times at the plate. Ryan Stephens beat out two infield hits and singled sharply in three at-bats to lead the Yankees. Cole Carroll and Nick Evans had the other three hits for the Yankees. Michael Minges also had a single for the Reds.

Friday, May 4
Cotton’s Grocery Reds 6, Internal Medicine Hurricanes 3

Michael Minges pitched the Reds to a 6-3 win over the Hurricanes in Friday’s opening Major League contest. The Reds scored three runs in the first and two more in the second to take a 5-0 lead before the Hurricanes scored three times in the third on three straight doubles by Joseph Desser, Tyreek Cabbagestalk, and Davis Cook to pull within two runs of the Reds, but Jon-Mitchell Carter walked and scored another insurance run when a throw was made to second base in an attempt to get Minges stealing.

In addition to the three two-base hits for the Hurricanes, Daniel and David Chestnut along with “D” Brown, had singles. The winners managed only three hits off a trio of pitchers for the ‘Canes, all singles by Carter, Minges and Noah Henderson.

Justice Rangers 12, BB Yankees 2

The Rangers (5-3) earned a tie with the Reds (5-3) for second place with a 12-2 win over the Yankees in the Major League night-cap. Ross Carlyle went the distance on the mound for the win and allowed only two hits, a double by Nick Evans, and a single by Ian Patterson. He struck out six and walked only two in four innings on the mound. The Rangers, bouncing back from their 3-2 loss to the first half Champion Giants, scored six runs over the first three innings and added six more in the fourth sending 11 batters to the plate.

In addition to his pitching performance, Carlyle had two hits in four times at bat. Ereck Eck went 2-for-2 with a double and a run batted in. Others with base hits were Jeremy Paul (2-1, single, two rbi), Kobe King (single), Nash Miller (single) and Evan Paul (double, two rbi).