The Tri-City All-Stars advanced to the District 4 (ages 11-12) championship game with a 14-3 victory over Jackson County in five innings on Saturday at the South Laurel Little League field.
The first five batters scored for the Tri-City All-Stars as they took advantage of five walks and two hit batsmen in the first inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Daelyn Garland got Tri-City’s first hit of the game in the second to spark a three-run inning.
Berkli Young doubled and scored a run for Jackson County in the second inning.
Lexi Adams’ triple in the top of the third inning plated Aly Sherman and Halanah Shepherd to give Tri City a 10-1 lead.
Braylen Gilley and Shepherd added hits in the fifth inning to help Tri City add four additional runs.
Jackson County added two runs in the bottom of the fifth but it wasn’t enough as the Tri-City defense came up with several big plays to end the game.
Adams led the Tri-City offense with a triple and a single. Garland had two singles. Sherman, Gilley, Shepherd, Akira Lee and Lexi Foutch each added singles.
Shepherd scored four runs. Gilley and Adams added three apiece. Sherman and Julionna Johnson contributed two each.
Sherman earned the victory on the mound, allowing four hits while striking out eight and giving up four walks.
“Our girls come out ready to play today and executed well, both offensively and defensively. They took advantage of what their opponent gave them, which is what you have to do in order to win these types of games,” Tri-City coach Scott Sherman said.
On Friday night, Tri-City fell to tournament favorite Hazard-Perry 13-1 in five innings.
Tri-City held the game close through the first two innings before Hazard-Perry scored five runs for an 8-1 lead.
Halanah Shepherd held her opponents in check in the top of the fourth, retiring all three batters she faced. In the bottom half of the inning, she got the offense going, hitting a double before and then scoring Tri-City’s only run of the game.
Shepherd’s double led the offense for Tri-City. Sherman and Lee each added singles.
Shepherd pitched a complete game with five strikeouts and allowed six walks.
“Halanah pitched well but our defense had several breakdowns, which is not something you can do with a team the caliber of Hazard-Perry” Sherman said.
The Tri-City defense fell apart in the fifth inning, committing numerous errors as Hazard-Perry added an additional five runs to put the game out of reach.
Hazard-Perry (3-0) and Tri-City (2-1) will face off on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the district championship. Hazard-Perry is undefeated in the double-elimination tournament, so Tri-City will have to win twice onTuesday in order to reach next weekend’s state tournament.
“I’m proud of our girls, They’ve worked hard and are representing our community well in the tournament,” Sherman said. “We will keep working hard and do all we can to earn a berth to the state tournament.”