Published: July 02, 2008 10:07 am         

North Laurel, South London still alive

Advance in Minor League girls district

The North Laurel Minor League All-Stars managed to fight their way out of a tough battle with Middlesboro on Monday night for a 13-6 victory and a ticket to the championship game.

Emily Evans started on the mound for North, but only pitched one inning before being relieved by Mikayla Vires. Vires pitched the remainder of the game.

“We pitched Emily the first inning and decided to save her for the next game,” North Laurel coach Jeff Evans said. “Mikayla came in and done a good job. When we need them they come through for us.”

Trailing 5-4 going into the bottom of the third inning, North turned to Hunter Deaton, who smacked an inside the park home run to even the game at 5-5.

North kept things going in the bottom of the fourth inning with five runs to take a 10-5 advantage. Kayla Bruner hit a two run double.

North added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning including another inside the park home run by Deaton that scored all three runs for the 13-6 lead.

“Hunter is swinging for the fence,” Evans said. “I try to tell her not to, but she has a rhythm and I hope she stays with it throughout the tournament.”

Bruner and Deaton got things going in the first inning with RBI singles to take the 2-1 advantage. Natasha Colwell brought the North squad back in the second inning by leading off with a single, stealing second, advancing to third and scoring on a pass ball to close the gap at 4-3.

Evans connected for an RBI single to score Shelby Trudgen and tie the score at 4-4.

“I was scared,” Evans said. “I was thinking, ‘oh no, here we go’.”

North Laurel took care of business early against Corbin on Saturday, but couldn’t claim victory until Sunday with the game being postponed for thunderstorms. North finally advanced with a 19-2 win.

North jumped out to an 8-0 advantage in the first inning. Two walks, a Kayla Bruner single and a pass ball resulted in a 3-0 North Laurel lead.

Hunter Deaton reached on a walk and scored when Brittany Smith laid down a nice bunt for the 4-0 advantage. Three errors later the North team was ahead 7-0. Baxley Jackson stepped up and showed off her speed with an inside the park home run for the 8-0 score.

The North squad did not let up in the second inning as they took advantage of a double by Bruner, a single by Deaton and more errors by Corbin to take an 11-0 lead. Mikayla Vires also added a single in the inning.

Bruner added another run in the third inning after reaching on a single and going on a stealing spree to reach home and give her team the 12-0 advantage.

Corbin managed to push two runs across before the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down. After a long delay the game was postponed until Sunday.

North came back and added seven more runs to claim the victory.

South London 11 Clay County 1

The South London All-Stars are finding a rhythm and climbing their way out of the loser’s bracket as they defeated Clay County 11-1 in four innings of action.

South used a steady scoring approach and few mistakes to earn themselves a match-up with Middlesboro with a ticket to the championship game and a rematch with North Laurel on the line.

“This was the first time in the tournament we were mentally ready to play,” South London coach Tim Bell said. “The first two games we weren’t focused, but tonight I was proud of them. They were loose and ready from the first pitch and that’s what it takes because it gets tough from her on out.”

A base hit by Brittany Vandeventer and RBI doubles by Madison Morris and Makinsie Mills gave South the early 2-0 advantage.

The bats were brought out in the second inning as South scored four more runs on four hits to take a 6-0 lead. Sydney Martin and Morris hit RBI doubles while Katlyn Shepherd and Destiney Salva added RBI singles.

“We had some quality at bats tonight,” Bell said. “We are starting to build toward good things.”

South kept up the pressure with three more runs in the third inning for a 9-0 advantage and came through with two runs in the fourth inning to get the ten run rule with an 11-1 score. Bell scored on a pass ball and Salva put the game away by scoring on a pass ball with the bases loaded.

South London advanced to face Clay County after defeating Tri-Cities 17-7 on Sunday.

Vandeventer stole the show with two inside the park home runs to help her teams cause. Her first came on South’s second at bat to take a 2-0 advantage.

South took care of Tri-Cities with a dominating third inning that saw every girl in the lineup score. 13 runs scored in the third inning to give South a 15-0 advantage.

South took advantage of several Tri-Cities errors and put the game away in four innings.

South London took on Middlesboro last night in the championship game of the loser’s bracket. The winner of that game will face North Laurel tonight at 6 p.m., with a second championship game (if needed) scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m.