By Lonnie Turner

With nine weeks gone in the Dillon Kiwanis Dixie Youth season, the Major League title has been won by the Dillon Family Dental Giants and the Minor League champion could be crowned in Monday’s contest between the True Value Tigers and Burger King Braves. The tigers have lost only twice this season, losing a first half game to the Physicians Healthcare Pirates and a 6-4 loss to the Braves in week six. Vacations are playing havoc with the final week of competition in both leagues. Hopefully, there will be enough players on all teams during the final week to finish the season on a positive note without forfeited games.

Minor League
Monday, June 6

True Value (5-1) won by forfeit over McLeod to lead second place Burger King (4-3) by one and a half games

Tuesday, June 7

McLeod Health Marlins 11, Burger King Braves 8

The Braves lost ground on the True Value Tigers by losing 11-5 to the Marlins in Tuesday’s first game. The win by the Marlins puts the Braves a game and a half behind the Tigers with a week remaining in the second half. With Burger King leading 6-1 after three innings, the Marlins batted around in the 4th and 5th innings to put 10 runs on the scoreboard. Tristian Brigman delivered the big hit in the 4th, slapping a bases loaded triple, but was thrown out at the plate trying to stretch the hit into an inside the park home run. Other players collecting hits for the winning Marlins were Jordan Lane (RBI single), Collin Hamilton (RBI single), Mason Bailey (Single) and Cooper Schilsky (Single). Burger King’s Noah Henderson led all hitters with a triple and single in three official times at bat. Hitting doubles for the Braves were John Rourke (2 RBIs), Zach Wilkes (2 RBIs) and Barnes Causey (1 RBI). Davis Lockamy and Chris Bethea got into the hit parade with a single each.

Physicians Healthcare Pirates 4, Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 0

Pirate pitcher Scotty Sweat blanked the Blue Jays, 4-0, with a one-hitter in Tuesday’s late game. Jared Ivey and Ryan Stephens supplied the right-hander with all the offense he would need with 5 of the 6 hits off losing pitcher Kolby Watts. Ivey was perfect at the plate with three singles and after going down on strikes in his first plate appearance, Stephens had back to back singles in the 3rd and 4th innings. Trent McNeill singled to account for the sixth safety off Watts. Cole Carroll hit a two-out infield single in the 4th to foil Sweat’s bid for a no hitter. Sweat struck out 12, walked 3 and hit 2 to improve his pitching record to 6 wins against 2 defeats. Watts lost for the 5th time in 9 decisions this season.

Thursday, June 9

Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 6, Burger King Braves 3

The Blue Jays knocked the Braves out of contention for the Minor League second half championship with a 6-3 win on Thursday. The loss drops the Braves to 4-4 with two games remaining on the schedule, while the Blue Jays are still in the chase with a 4-3 record trailing the True Value Tigers by two games with two to go. The Blue Jays took advantage of two walks, an error and two hit batters to score four runs in the first inning and put two more on the scoreboard without the benefit of a base hit in the second. Cole Carroll and Nick Evans collected base hits for the Braves and John Rourke spoiled a no-hitter for the Pepsi-Cola pitching duo of Kolby Watts and Kobe King by beating out an infield hit in the third.
Friday, June 10

True Value Tigers 10, Physicians Healthcare Pirates 2

The Tigers defeated the Pirates, 10-2, in Friday’s single Minor League contest to inch closer to the second half title and the overall championship for the year. A win by the Tigers (6-1) in this coming final week or a loss by the Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays (4-3) will give the Tigers the title. The two teams will meet in Tuesday’s late game at the Kiwanis baseball facility, but a win over the Burger King Braves in Monday’s game would give the Tigers the championship. Hunter Pittman hit an inside the park homerun and singled and Richard Alderman went 2 for 2 to drive in two runs to lead the Tigers at the plate. Pittman threw a three-hitter to get the pitching win and struck out nine batters, including his 100th of the season, and walked four in his four innings on the mound. Jackson Elrod drove in three runs with a single and ground out and Chase Dudney, Cody White and Dray Thompson contributed to the eight-hit attack. Micah Garcia, Jared Ivey and Jared Darmon hit safely for the Pirates.

Note: Look for the Major League roundup in the Thursday, June 16, issue of THE DILLON HERALD and look for team photos in upcoming issues!