Starkville 6’s win pair to claim overall state
Starkville 6-year-olds claim pair of one-run victories to win state
Greenwood's 6-year-old All-Stars got the better of Starkville on Sunday afternoon as the two met for the Dizzy Dean South State championship at McKee Park.
On Monday night, Starkville got redemption for that loss. The Starkville All-Stars exploded offensively and made just enough defensive plays to hold off the Vipers in a classic sixinning matchup 24-23 and claimed the Overall Dizzy Dean State title.
Seven of the nine Starkville batters had two or more hits in the game led by Knox Smith, who powered his way to a 5-for-5 game two hitting through the cycle with a home run, triple and two doubles. He had three RBI in the game as well.
After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, Starkville started a trend that was the rest of the game as it fought back. A seven-run bottom of the first came for the home team started by a two-run home run by Leighton Whiteside. Kylan Pulliam broken it open with a two-run single and Murphy Gordon had a two-run double for the 7-3 lead.
From there, things got wild for both teams.
Both continued to swing the bat with ferocity and the lead changed several times, including a 6-11 lead for Greenwood in the third. Starkville got right back in it with a six-run frame in the bottom of the inning again started by a home run as Smith brought in two to start the rally and it led again 17-16.
Greenwood took one final lead in the fourth up 19-17 and Starkville made its last push. Smith drove in a run with a double and Will Thomas and Reed Sparks followed with run-producing hits to tie it at 19. Starkville took the lead for good on an errant throw to first base driving in three runs and they eventually exited the inning with a strong 23-19 lead.
Starkville went into the top of the sixth needing three outs with a 24-19 lead but Greenwood made it interesting.
With two outs and a 24-21 deficit, Greenwood got two runs home. A tough ground ball was fielded by Smith, who threw over to Gordon on a play to end the game and Starkville was handed the state championship trophy.
It was a total offensive team effort for the Starkville All-Stars, who got four hits east from Thomas, Sparks and Preston Crouch to go along with Smith's five hits. Whiteside added three hits of his own with his home run and Gordon had three hits with two RBI.
Brayden Lambert finished 2-for-4.
Starkville 15, J.P. Hudson 14 First Game
To get to a championship game, Starkville had to beat another good team.
Batesville's J.P. Hudson All Stars gave the Starkville All-Stars all they could handle for five innings before the time limit came into play.
Starkville held on defensively late to secure the victory and moved on to the championship.
Trailing 5-3 early, Starkville came out hitting in the second inning as Gordon laced a three-run double to take the lead. RBI by Whiteside, Crouch and Lambert capped a seven-run limit on the inning and a 10-5 lead.
JP Hudson tied the game at 12-12 in the fourth when it scored seven runs of its own, but Starkville finished things off.
In the bottom of the inning, Thomas produced an RBI double and an error scored another two runs to extend Starkville's lead to 15-12. J.P. Hudson hit a two-run homer in the fifth, but Starkville secured the wins defensively.
Leading the way with three hits each in the game was Gordon, Smith and Pulliam. Smith and Pulliam each had a home run and two RBI each.
Whiteside, Thomas, Crouch and Sparks all had two-hit games with Sparks also getting the job done defensively producing two double plays.