ELLAVILLE – The Schley County 8u All-Stars (SC) were two wins away from winning the Dixie Youth District 2 Baseball Tournament. However, the Taylor County All-Stars derailed SC’s hopes of winning the district championship when they defeated the boys from Ellaville 7-5 in the tournament semifinals on Thursday, June 13, at the Schley County Parks and Recreation baseball complex.

Taylor County (TC) scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 7-3 lead. SC fought back by scoring one run in the fifth inning and one in the sixth, but it would not be enough. TC went on to win the tournament by beating Lamar County 13-8 in the finals. By virtue of winning the tournament, TC has punched their ticket to the Dixie Youth State Tournament.

In spite of not winning the tournament, the SC 8u All-Stars still finished in third place.

“They did really good. They did awesome. I’m proud of every one of them,” SC head coach Jay Player said. “They’ve come a long way since we started and we’ll be better next year.”

SC got on the board first when David Guest led off the game with a single. Levi Renfroe then singled home Guest for the first run of the game. TC responded in their half of the inning. With two outs, Jentzen Hunter reached on an error. Kyng Brown then belted a triple, scoring Hunter to tie the game. SC responded by scoring two runs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Brenton Blevins led off with a triple and Garrett Streetman singled to drive in Blevins. Cameron Player followed that up with an RBI double. He tried to advance to third on the hit, but was thrown out. SC was not able to score any more runs until the top of the fifth inning.

The big blow for TC came in the bottom of the fourth. Hunter and Brown led off the inning with singles. After Tyson Hinton struck out, Messiah Gibson and Lane Allen both singled, driving in two runs to tie the game. Bryson Cobb singled. Then Flint Cross belted a three-run triple to give TC a 6-3 lead. The boys from Buena Vista were still not done as Dawson Adams drove in another run on an RBI single. TC had taken a 7-3 lead.

SC did not quit, however. Guest and Renfroe led off the top of the fifth with singles. J.B. Green then drove in Guest on an RBI single to cut the deficit to three at 7-4. SC got one more run in the top of sixth. Easton Stuckey led off with a triple. Brenton Blevins hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Stuckey to cut the deficit to 7-5. Unfortunately for SC, they were not able to get the come-from-behind victory.

SC had a remarkable run in the tournament. After losing to Taylor County 16-8 in their first tournament game on Tuesday, June 11, they defeated Dooly County 17-10. They followed that up with a 13-5 victory over Crawford County on Wednesday, June 12.

The 8u Crawford County All-Stars were awarded the sportsmanship trophy for their display of excellent sportsmanship throughout the tournament.