Published: July 02, 2008 10:11 am         

North Laurel Blue rolling along

Clay Co. eliminates South London 2 from Minor League tournament

North Laurel Blue has advanced to tonight’s winner’s bracket final in the Minor League Area 2 boys’ tournament with wins over Corbin 2 and South London 1.

North Blue routed Corbin 2 20-0 on Saturday, then came back to beat South London 1 12-4 on Sunday. North Blue will now face Corbin 1 tonight at 6 p.m.

“We came out and did exactly what we wanted to do,” Coach Michael Broughton said of his team’s win over Corbin 2, which featured a 13-run first inning by North Blue. “Scoring those 13 runs took the momentum out of Corbin. I couldn’t ask for anything more from my team.”

North Blue sent 17 batters to the plate in that first inning, scoring 13 runs on eight hits, including a double by Mason Sherman and singles off the bats of Peyton Broughton, Ryan Abner (2) , Braxton Hicks (2) , Drew Allen and Ray Hays.

Broughton was able to use a different pitcher in every inning, and got good performances out of each of them. “We’ve got seven pitchers we can throw at any time,” Broughton said.

North Blue tacked seven more runs on in the top of fourth to make the final 20-0.

On Sunday, North Blue downed South London 1 12-4 to advance to the winner’s bracket finals.

North scored one run in the first and second to take an early 2-0 lead before South London 1 came back for three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-2 lead.

In the first, Broughton reached on an error and scored on a fielder’s choice by Abner. In the second, Sherman smacked a double and later scored on a single by Broughton.

Matthew Woods walked in the third, and Skylar Johnson singled for South London 1. With two outs, Ben Tonkel singled to load the bases, then all three runners came home on a triple by Jacob Vaughn.

North Blue came back for three runs in the fourth, then seven in the fifth for the 12-4 win.

“I think in the fourth we got our heads down a little bit when they got a run to go ahead,” South coach Kenton Vaughn said. “It took the wind out of us.”

“We try to come out and be aggressive and play as hard as we can,” Broughton said.

Clay Co. 8, South London 2 7

South London 2 was eliminated from tournament action Monday night, falling 8-7 to Clay Co.

After taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning, South London found themselves trailing 6-3 going into the top of the fifth, where they scored twice to cut the lead to 6-5. South added two more runs in the top of the sixth for a 7-6 lead, only to watch Clay Co. come back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the 8-7 win.

In the first, Logan Martin led off with a single, and Corey Grimes and Ryan Anders both reached on an error. On Anders’ error, two runs came home for a 2-0 lead. Anders would later score on a wild pitch for an early 3-0 lead.

Clay Co. answered with five runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a triple off the bat of Nate Sizemore for a 5-3 lead. Clay added another run in the third to make it 6-3.

It stayed that way until the top of the fifth, when South London scored twice to cut the lead to 6-5. Grimes led off with a walk, and after Anders struck out, Dilyn Osborne walked to put two runners on. Clay starting pitcher Dylan Hicks was then removed from the game due to the pitch count rule, and he was replaced by Nathan Gray.

Gray struck out Blake Burns, but walked Andrew Taylor to load the bases for Jared Hale, who also walked, forcing in Grimes. Gray issued another walk, this time to Brody Deaton, which brought Osborne home, cutting the lead to 6-5.

Clay had a chance to extend its lead in the bottom of the inning, as Sizemore led off with a triple, and Hicks and Trent Napier both drew two-out walks to load the bases, but Burns, who came in to relieve Anders in the third, got Gray to strike out, ending the inning.

South London then tacked two more runs on the board in the sixth as Martin and Grimes scored, giving them a 7-6 lead.

Sexton led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple for Clay Co., and Cody Becknell hit a Baltimore Chop off home plate, scoring Sexton to tie the game at 7-7. Austin Jackson then singled, and when Sizemore grounded out to second, Jackson came home for the winning run.

South London 1 6, Jackson Co. 5

South London 1 opened tournament play on Saturday morning with a thrilling 6-5 win over Jackson Co.

“Our kids gave an awesome effort,” Vaughn said. “I’m proud of them.”

Jackson Co. took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first before South London 1 came back for four runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead.

Tucker Martin reached on an error, and with one out, Matthew Woods reached on another error and scored on a double by Seth Swafford. Blake Phelps then doubled in Swafford and Woods. Phelps would score on a single by Jacob Vaughn for the 4-2 lead.

Jackson Co. got one run back in the top of the fourth, then scored twice in the fifth, thanks to three straight South London errors, to take a 5-4 lead. But South London scored twice in the bottom of the inning for a 6-5 lead, then held on for the win, as Jackson Co. loaded the bases in the sixth with two outs, but failed to push a run across.

In the fifth, Swafford doubled to lead things off for South London, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Phelps drew a walk, as did Vaughn, as Swafford scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5-5. Jacob Taylor walked to load the bases, and Vaughn scored on a single by Tyler Muncy for the 6-5 win.

North Laurel Green 10, South London 2 0

Jack Capobianco struck out five and allowed only one hit as North Laurel Green beat South London 2 10-0 on Saturday.

North scored three in the first, then added seven in the third for the win.

“Our defense was really good, and I’m proud of them,” Coach James Brooks said.

Capobianco helped himself at the plate by doubling to lead things off in the bottom of the first and later scored for a 1-0 lead. Weston Griebel and Shane Caudill both drew walks and both scored on errors to make it 3-0.

North Green then blew things open in the third, scoring seven times to make the final 10-0.

Tate Sasser and Cole McWhorter both singled and scored on an RBI triple by Matthew Sizemore. Smith, Griebel and Capobianco also drove in runs in the inning.

Corbin 1 9, North Laurel Green 5

Corbin 1 dropped North Laurel Green into the loser’s bracket with a 9-5 win on Sunday.

Corbin 1 scored seven runs in the top of the first and never looked back, as they sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning.

North Green got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Griebel singled followed by Matt Brooks and Brian Gray drawing walks. Sizemore and McWhorter both had RBI singles to make it 7-2.

In the third, McWhorter scored to cut the lead to 7-3, but Corbin held on for the 9-5 win.

North Green played last night against Jackson Co., while South London 1 faced Clay Co. in loser’s bracket action.