South State trophy goes to Starkville
LOUISVILLE – Two of the state's top 8-year-old teams played baseball on Sunday afternoon for the Dizzy Dean South State Championship.
When Louisville and Starkville get together, it's always a battle. The difference between winning and losing can often be measured closely. On Sunday, Starkville American made the defensive plays and got the timely hits to spark a 12-9 win for the title.
“When you can get 8-year-olds flipping the ball in the infield and making all the routine plays, that's a big deal,” Starkville coach Brandon Frazier said. “It just goes to show all the practice that they put in.”
The win was much more dramatic than the score indicated as Starkville rallied from a 7-5 deficit in the fifth to score seven runs and take control of the game. A couple of runs from Louisville in the final inning was academic as Starkville took the game and the trophy from the host squad.
“They definitely came back that last inning and all hit,” Coach Frazier said. “They came in with their mind made up to score some runs and that gave us the momentum to get outs. This is what these kids have been doing all year … scoring runs when they had to and they came through (Sunday).”
In the fifth frame, Starkville got big hits. It started with Bradley Berkery, who tied the game on an RBI single. Garrett Kosko gave Starkville a lead it wouldn't lose when he broke it
open with a two-run double and Christian Riekhof followed with a double of his own to make it 10-7. A hit by Micah Buckner and two-run double from Donald Walker gave American the seven-run limit and put the game out of reach.
Kosko and Buckner led the way in the 19-hit barrage as they both finished with 3-for-3 afternoons and Kosko had a game-high four RBI. Berkery, Barrett Peaster and Jack Johnson all had two hits in the game and Walker finished with two RBI.
Starkville led 4-1 after three innings before Louisville took advantage of its rare miscues defensively. In the fourth, Louisville scored six runs, which four with two outs, on two errors to take its first lead of the game at 7-4. American came back with a vengeance in the fifth and won the game.
Louisville hosts Starkville American once again tonight as they compete in the Overall State championship tournament beginning at 5:30 p.m. against the North State champion. If Starkville wins, it will play a championship game at 7 p.m. against the winner of Saltillo and Clarksdale.