Saturday’s baseball action:
• Southern 11s win pool play opener at state tournament
• Cal Ripken 12U, 7U, 6U teams done after losses at regionals
• RiverDawgs fall on road to league-leading Hoptown
RECAPS
LITTLE LEAGUE STATE TOURNAMENT
Jayden James struck out nine batters and the offense got hot late as the Owensboro Southern 11U All-Stars picked up a 12-5 victory over North Oldham in the pool play opener at the Kentucky State Tournament.
Nolan Johnson reached on an error that allowed Daveon Hinton to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. North Oldham took a brief 2-1 lead in the top of the third before Owensboro pulled away.
With help from two bases-loaded walks, Western scored four runs in the bottom of the third to retake the lead. Four hits, a pair of walks and a North Oldham error led to six more runs for Western in the fourth, and they tacked on another in the fifth.
James went 4.1 innings on the mound, allowing four unearned runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. Lane Hundley, Ryleigh Logan and Brayden Burger each had two hits. Hinton scored four times and drew three walks. Ty Lillpop drove in three runs, while Logan knocked in two. Burger and Geordyn Stevens each scored twice.
Southern plays again today at 5 p.m. CST against Paintsville.
CAL RIPKEN REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
The season came to an end for the 12U, 7U and 6U Cal Ripken All-Star teams Saturday in their respective Ohio Valley Regional tournaments. Pool play games began Friday for each team.
The 12U squad suffered a pair of narrow defeats Friday, and with only the top two teams from their pool able to advance, Western was already mathematically eliminated before Saturday’s contest.
In the first game Friday, the 12U team lost 3-1 to Buffalo (West Virginia). Israel Carter-Swanagan recorded the lone hit and Christopher Burns scored the only run. Pitchers Zack Morrison and Trevor Delacey combined to allow a single hit while striking out six.
In the second contest, Western used two runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game before Schererville used a walk-off single to win 4-3. Carter-Swanagan, Will Hume and Noah Ranburger each had two hits. Hume scored twice and Ranburger drove in two runs.
Western couldn’t get anything going Saturday, failing to record a hit in a 10-0 four-inning loss to Newburgh.
Both the 7U and 6U teams lost all three pool play games before falling in the first round of tournament play. The 7U team lost to Vincennes, Southeastern, Meade County and Prairie Village. The 6U team lost to Vincennes, Elizabethtown, Newburgh and Okolona. Stats were not available for either team.
COLLEGIATE OHIO VALLEY LEAGUE
Despite outhitting league-leading Hoptown 12-8, Owensboro couldn’t push enough runs across in a 5-4 road loss. The RiverDawgs dropped into a tie for first in the East Division with the Henderson Flash.
In Saturday’s loss, Ian Ellis went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI. Bailey Falkenstein added two hits and scored twice. Michael Wymann also had two hits.
Owensboro has three games left in the regular season. After playing at Dubois County today, they travel to Henderson on Monday before closing the season at home Tuesday against Paducah.
