NewsLumberjacks' big win caps U-12 slate
Rain only a temporary damper on NYBC proceedings
By Rustin Dodd / MLB.com
08/29/09 1:11 AM ET
The rains came early at the National Youth Baseball Championships.And for the Mississippi Lumberjacks -- the hits came late.
Shortstop Andrew Ryals went 2-for-2 with a double and a single as the Miss. Lumberjacks beat Columbia County (Ga.), 5-1, on Friday in the U-12 Division of the National Youth Baseball Championships in Cordova, Tenn.
Morning showers threatened to postpone Friday's action, which included eight games in the U-12 Division.
But tournament officials were able to work the fields into a playable condition after a short rain delay.
The Lumberjacks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but Columbia County answered in the fourth with a solo homer from center fielder Jordan Lilly. The Lumberjacks responded quickly, rallying for four runs in the top of the fifth, and Lumberjacks reliever Perry Harris collected four strikeouts over two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth.
Lumberjacks starting pitcher Jacob Wilcher allowed just one run over four innings of work before Harris replaced him in the fifth.
Norwalk Stingrays 12, Simi Bronco A Team 1 (Calif.)
The Norwalk Stingrays opened the day with a 12-1 victory over the Simi Bronco A Team. The Stingrays' offense stayed in gear all game, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first and adding another in the second to take a 5-0 lead.
The Stingrays put up three more runs in the bottom of the third to go ahead, 8-0, before the A-Team put a single run on the scoreboard in the fourth.
The Stingrays, who finished with 12 runs on 10 hits, added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Puerto Rico Vaqueros 3, Team Rattlers (Texas) 2
After following behind, 2-0, the Puerto Rico Vaqueros squad rallied for a 3-2 victory over Team Rattlers.
The Rattlers took an early lead after scoring runs in the first and second, but Vaqueros tied the game at 2 with two runs in the third and added another run in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead.
Team Rattlers (Texas) 5, Simi Bronco A Team 1
In their second game of the day, Team Rattlers rebounded with a 5-1 victory over Simi Bronco A Team.
The Rattlers' Ryan Johnson went 2-for-2 and added two runs and two RBIs.
Bullets Baseball Gold (Fla.) 2, Columbia Co. Star 1
Bullets Baseball Gold scored a 2-1 victory over Columbia County on Friday evening.
Columbia County starting pitcher Matt Anderson threw four scoreless innings to begin the game, but Bullets Baseball struck for two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead.
Norwalk Stingrays 5, Puerto Rico Vaqueros 1
The Norwalk Stingrays got a strong performance from starting pitcher Brady Aiken, and they also picked up their second victory of the day with a 5-1 victory over Puerto Rico Vaqueros.
Aiken allowed just one hit and one run over five innings while striking out 10.
The Stingrays' offense scored two runs in the first, and they never trailed after that.
Rustin Dodd is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
