Lexington eliminates Tennessee
Lexington American coach Alston Stokes was waiting for his team to break out the bats in a big way. He thought he got a glimpse of in the first inning when his team put up five runs in an elimination contest with Tennessee in the 2015 Dixie Youth Majors World Series.
He really got what he was anticipating in the sixth inning. Lexington American scored 13 runs to break open a tie game for a 21-8 victory to eliminate Tennessee from the tournament.
“That is kind of what we’ve been waiting on,” Stokes said. “With the hitters that we have, the potential is there to have big innings all the time. I was glad to finally see that frame happen just to get us in the groove and hopefully that will carry over.”
Lexington National scored in a number of ways in the final inning. It loaded the bases with one out on a walk, single and hit by pitch and scored the go-ahead run when Brock Balestrero was also hit by a pitch. The floodgates opened with the next batter.
With the bases still loaded, Brantley Stroud singled down the left-field line to score two runs and both he and Balestrero scored on the play when Tennessee tried to throw Stroud out second. He was advancing when the throw went home but the catcher’s throw went to the outfield fence to clear the bases. In all, Lexington sent 16 hitters to the plate the inning.
Balestrero capped his 3-for-4 night with a two-run home run to end the scoring for Lexington American. He had two home runs — he hit a three-run opposite field home run in the first inning — a double and seven runs batted in.
“The home runs were just off of fastballs,” Balestrero said. “One was over my head but it worked out.”
The offensive outburst was welcomed. Lexington lost the opening game 8-2 to Texas and never really got on track until the big sixth inning.
“After you get a few hits, it’s really contagious,” Balestrero said. “We got a big two-out rally going and it felt really good to score a lot of runs like that.”
Stokes had watched as his pitchers struggle with control. Lexington American led 5-0 after one inning but Tennessee scored three in the third and four in the fourth to take the lead. Lexington walked four and hit two batters in those innings and four of them scored.
Stokes is hopeful he has plenty of arms moving forward. If a pitcher doesn’t pitch more than two innings, he’s allowed to come back the following day. So far, Stokes has exceeded that limit. Pitchers are allowed to throw 15 innings in the tournament. Stokes monitors the pitch count closely.
Lexington American will play the loser of the late game between Mississippi and Florida in another elimination game on Monday at 5:45.
Through two days of the tournament, all six South Carolina teams are still alive. In the AAA World Series bracket, host Lexington was playing the late game in the winner’s bracket contest. It will play Monday at 8 p.m. — win or lose.
South Carolina (Clinton) avoided elimination with a 7-0 victory over Tennessee. It will play the loser of the late contest between Georgia and Mississippi at 5:45 today.
In the South Carolina Majors bracket, South Carolina (Hartsville) played Texas in the late contest. It will play today at 8 p.m. — win or lose. Lexington American is playing the loser of Florida-Mississippi at 5:45 p.m. today in another elimination contest.
In the “O” Zone World Series bracket, South Carolina (Jefferson) has advanced by winning the first two rounds. It beat Tennessee 11-9 Saturday and Georgia 7-4 Sunday. It will play in the 8 p.m. game on Tuesday.
Lexington National avoided elimination with a 17-2 win over Arkansas Sunday. It will play Texas at 5:45 p.m. today in another elimination contest.