Starkville outscores Greenwood to make the championship round
An early deficit and some tense lateinning action wasn't enough to deter Starkville's 6-year-old All-Stars.
Thanks to a relentless approach at the plate and some key defensive plays along the way, Starkville took down Greenwood 20-15 in round two.
“We came out a little slow (Saturday) hitting the baseball,” Starkville coach Allan Smith said. “I told them that we didn't need to worry early on. We just needed to win each inning. We chipped away and chipped away and we came out with a win. I'm extremely proud of them.”
The Starkville Stars pounded out 29 hits in the six innings of action, none bigger than those that came in the top of the final frame. Tied at 14, Starkville manufactured.a big inning to separate itself.
A one-out RBI from Cooper Anthony started the party and an error gave Starkville the 16-14 lead. Knox Smith broke it wide open when he powered a three-run inside-the-park home run to center field to make it 19-14 and another run gave them a five-run cushion with three outs to go.
“I told them after that first inning to try to come out and hit the ball as hard as you can,” coach Smith said. “There late in the game we started to hit the baseball hard. When you hit the baseball
hard, good things are going to happen.”
A solid defensive bottom of the frame kept Greenwood at bay as it was only able to get one run back to provide
the 20-15 final.
Starkville won the game despite having to play catch up early in the game. It took the lead in the top of the first with a three-run frame, but Greenwood answered with six runs of their own and led 6-3.
After three innings, Greenwood had the 8-7 lead,
but Starkville took a 12-8 advantage into the fifth thanks to big hits from Brayden Lambert and Cline Kemp. Kemp's two-run single ended out the five-run inning and gave Starkville a healthy lead.
Up 14-9 in the fifth, Starkville allowed Greenwood to score five times to tie it up at 14. It put the game away the next inning and clinched the win.
Knox Smith had a huge game going 5-for-5 at the plate with five RBI and his home run.
Murphy Gordon and Preston Crouch weren't far behind with four-hit days adding a double each.
Leighton Whiteside went 3-for-5 and Will Thomas was 3-for-4 with two RBI while Cooper Anthony, Brayden Lambert and Reed Sparks all
had two hits each.
The win propelled Starkville to the championship today and allows them at least two chances to win the South State championship for Dizzy Dean. The All-Stars play the winners of Caledonia and Greenwood at 3 p.m. at McKee Park.