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 My Site News: World Series Gadsden Times Newspaper Article |
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World Series Gadsden Times Newspaper Article
Marathon title run
By John Bednarowski
Times Sports Writer
Phillip West's single to right field scored Taylor Watts from second base in the bottom of the 13th inning Saturday, earning the Bama Bandits a 3-2 win over the Huntsville Rockets and the 15-and-under Baseball Player's Association World Series Championship.
Watts began the final inning with a sharp single to center and went to second on a wild pitch by Chase Adcock. With one out, West then dropped Adcock's inside pitch over the infield. Huntsville right fielder Carl Cambpell charged and fielded the ball, then made a strong and accurate throw home, but Watts was able to just sneak in ahead of Richard Pannell's tag to end the marathon game.
The close play at home was indicative of just how evenly matched these teams were. Heading into the final at-bat, the teams each had two runs on seven hits and had made two errors. Both starting pitchers, Huntsville's Andy Smith and Bama's Junior Gray were stingy, each giving up two runs on four hits. Smith went five innings while Gray pitched eight.
Both bullpens were equally as strong. Adam Korak relieved Smith for Huntsville and pitched seven shutout innings keeping the Bandits off balance with his submarine style delivery.
Myles Cordell was Korak's equal, pitching 42Ú3 innings of scoreless baseball including getting out of the biggest jam of the night.
Cordell entered the game with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth and induced Huntsville third baseman Luke Hanson into hitting into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, but that was just one of many big pitches that allowed each squad to get out of jams.
After scoring their second run in the bottom of the fifth the Bandits had runners on second and third with one out. West ended the threat by striking out Cordell and getting Darius Rudolph to fly out to center.
After hitting Adcock with a pitch, Gray allowed back-to-back doubles in the sixth inning, the second a bloop that landed on the right field line to account for the Rockets two runs. With runners on second and third, he then struck out center fielder Robert Robinson, got second baseman Parker Ciancida to pop out to third and got Smith to bounce back to the mound to get out of the inning.
With one out and Hanson running on contact from third, carrying the Rockets potential winning run in the top of the seventh, Pannell's softly hit grounder hugged the baseline, allowing Gray to field the ball and tag Hanson in one motion.
The best chance for the Bandits to end the game early came in the bottom of the tenth. With two outs and the bases loaded. Adam Clough's ground ball headed for the hole at shortstop took a bad hop, bounced high and caught Rudolph on the foot as he tried to jump out of the way for the third out.
For a time, however, there was a question whether the Rockets were going to get a hit, let alone score. Gray held Huntsville hitless until first baseman Drew Bailey hit a flare into right field with one out in the fifth. Gray added 10 strikeouts and walked only one batter during his stint on the mound. He also added an RBI double in the third inning.
Watts ended the game 3-for-5 with a double, two singles and a run batted in.
However that was not the only game the Bandits played Saturday.
Nate Kloskowski pitched a complete-game four-hitter as the Bandits eliminated the Chattanooga Colonels 9-3 in the semi-finals.
Bama used a balanced attack, scoring three runs in the first and third innings, a pair in the fourth and a single run in the second. Gray had a triple, a single and an RBI in his two at bats. Watts added a single and an RBI double and Trey Vice also had a pair of hits for the Bandits.
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