By Christy Rogers
The Latta 11-12 All Stars picked up three wins this weekend to advance in the district tournament.
The Latta All Stars took down Mullins 2-1 on Friday. The bottom of the first saw Latta take an early 1-0 lead. Latta got things going when McLeod Carmichael singled and advanced on the bases with three passed balls to score one unearned run.
Mullins tied the game in the fourth inning when Daniel Hewitt walked and scored on a double by Ryan Brewer. Latta’s Hunter Sawyer got the next two outs to get out of the jam.
In the bottom of the sixth Nate Lee walked with two outs. Lee advanced to third on two passed balls and scored the winning run on a wild pitch.
Kendall Bryant (1-1) and McLeod Carmichael (1-2) collected Latta’s only two hits.
Carmichael, pitching the first two innings, gave up one hit, walked one, and struck out one. Hunter Sawyer pitched two innings, giving up one hit, walking two, and striking out four batters while allowing Mullins only one run.
Payton Jackson put together a nice outing. Payton held Marion hitless over two innings, allowed no earned runs, walked two, and struck out two.
Maple Park didn’t put up much of a fight on Saturday, as the Latta All Stars cruised to a blowout 9-2 win in six innings at Latta.
Latta scored four runs in the third on a passed ball, an RBI double by Pierce Watson, and a two-run double by Daniel Camp.
Dylan Brewer racked up three RBIs on one hit for Latta. He homered in the fifth inning.
Hunter Sawyer got the win for Latta. He allowed two runs over four innings. He struck out eight, walked one and surrendered four hits. McLeod Carmichael pitched two innings, striking out four batters and walking none.
Maple Park scored two runs in the top of the fourth to cut its deficit to two. A two-run home run by Hunter Anderson sparked Maple Park’s rally. Finally, Hunter induced an inning-ending strike out from Zykell Madison.
It didn’t take long for Latta to respond as it scored two runs of its own in the fourth. Latta scored on a groundout by Nate Lee and a passed ball.
Sunday was a great day for Dylan Brewer, as he hit two home runs to carry Latta to a 10-6 victory over McLeod Park at Latta in six innings.
Latta hit four home runs in the win. Home runs for Latta came when Dylan homered in the first and second innings, Trey Anderson homered in the third inning, and Nate Lee homered in the sixth inning. Dylan, Nate, and Trey helped lead Latta. They combined for six hits and seven RBIs.
Payton Jackson recorded the win for Latta. He allowed two runs over three innings. He struck out five, walked none and surrendered six hits.
McLeod Park pushed one run across in each of the first, second, fourth, and fifth innings. In the first, McLeod Park scored on a groundout by Matt Lowery, scoring Parker Moore.
Latta scored two runs in the second inning, and then followed it up with two more in the third. In the second, Latta scored on a two-run home run by Dylan, bringing home Pierce Watson.
Latta pushed across one run in both the fourth inning and the sixth. In the fourth, Latta scored on a passed ball, scoring Jamison Herring. A one-run fourth inning helped bring McLeod Park within six. An error sparked McLeod Park’s rally. The McLeod Park threat came to an end when Dylan finally got Rich Gainey to strike out.
After pushing across one run in the bottom of the fifth, McLeod Park faced just a 9-4 deficit. An error gave McLeod Park life, but Nate got Will Hammond to ground out to end the inning.
Two runs in the bottom of the sixth helped McLeod Park close its deficit to 10-6. A two-run home run by Korique Rainey fueled McLeod Park’s comeback. Latta’s McLeod Carmichael closed things out.
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