The DeKalb County 11-year-old All Stars began their best-of-three tournament on Friday night. DeKalb battled the sweltering heat against Smith County and fell short losing 11-1.
In the top of the first, the Smith County All Stars jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. The first batter singled to right field. The next batter would drop in an RBI double to left field.
The third batter blasted out a deep ball to left field good for an RBI triple. The next batter hit a ground ball for a sacrifice out. The seventh batter of the inning hit into a sac-fly.
In the bottom of the first, Luke Oliver led off for the DeKalb All Stars but ground out at first. Grayson Redmon followed that with a single to left field.
Logan Corneilous singled on a fielder’s choice and Redmon was out at second. Derek Young singled to right field. John Maynard ended the inning with a ground out to first.
In the top of the second, the first two batters for Smith County were hit by pitches. The next batter was struck out. During the at bat of the fourth batter, catcher’s interference was called and he was awarded first base. The next batter knocked a ball into a fielder’s choice for the second out. The final batter of the inning was sat down by a strikeout.
In the bottom of the second, Colter Norris led off but was struck out. Brady Driver was walked. Noah Gill was also struck out. Isaac Hall was walked and Oliver ended the inning being struck out.
In the top of the third,  Redmon walked his first two batters. The third batter hit a ball into a fielder’s choice and the out was at third. The next batter slapped out a two-run triple deep the centerfield. The fifth batter of the inning knocked down a perfectly executed bunt for a suicide squeeze that brought in another run.  The next batter was struck out and the final batter of the inning flew out to the short stop.
In the bottom of the third, Redmon led off with a double. Corneilous grounded out to first, but advanced the runner to third. Derek Young belted a deep ball to left field and brought in Redmon to score with the base hit. Maynard hit into a fielder’s choice and the out was at second. Norris ended the inning striking out.
In the top of the fourth, Redmon’s first batter was struck out, and he walked his next batter. The third batter would hit a ground ball and was out at first.
A pitching change took place at the mound as Redmon had reached his maximum amount of pitches. Isaac Hall would resume pitching duties. The first batter he faced slapped out an RBI single to left field. The next batter also knocked in a run with a triple. Hall’s struggles continued as the next batter also brought in a run with a double. The seventh batter of the inning grounded out to third.
Now down by 10 runs, DeKalb needed to score to keep their hopes of winning alive before the run rule would go into effect.
In the bottom of the fourth, Driver was the first batter up and was struck out. Alex Snipes faced the same fate as he was also struck out. Hall got a piece of the ball with a line drive to centerfield. Oliver ended the inning as well as the game when he grounded out to second base.
The 11-year-old All Stars for DeKalb continued their series against Smith County on Saturday night and faced the same exact fate as Friday night, losing 11-1.
In the top of the first, DeKalb County’s Luke Oliver would have the only hit of the inning with a bunt.
In the bottom of the first, Smith’s first batter singled to third base. The next batter brought in a run with a double. The third batter knocked in a run with a single to right field. The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice and the out was at third. The next batter blasted out an RBI double in right field.
In the top of the second, it was a three-and-out for DeKalb, starting with John Maynard striking out. Colter Norris followed that up with a fly-out to centerfield. Noah Gill ended the inning being struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the second, Norris walked his first two batters. Norris’ third batter had no problem with the pitching when he belted out a two-run double.
Norris eventually settled down and was able to retire the inning, striking out two.
In the top of the third,  once again it was a three-and-out for the hometown All Stars. Driver was struck out. Isaac Hall ground out to second base and Oliver flew out to left field.
In the bottom of the third, Norris walked his first batter.  A few wild pitches allowed the runner on first to make his way to third and also allowed a single. Another wild pitch and Smith County had runners in scoring position at second and third.
Though in a tough spot, Norris was able to strike out two straight batters. The next batter of the inning belted out a ball to right field and two runs were able to come in and score.
After the RBI, Norris had a wild pitch that allowed a run to come in and the runner to advance to third. Norris finally ended the inning striking the final batter  out.
In the top of the fourth,  Derek Young came up big for DeKalb, slapping out a much-needed RBI single to prevent the run rule for at least one more inning. The inning ended with Norris going down on a strike out.
In the bottom of the fourth, Smith County could clinch a victory by scoring two runs, enforcing the run rule.
Smith County did just that. With runners on second and third, they belted out a two-run double and ended the game to be crowned the champions off their district.