All-Stars finish third
Published 12:00 am Friday, July 25, 2003
BOAZ&045;&045; After a loss in the opening game of the Dixie Youth State Tournament in Boaz, the 13-year-old Selma All-Stars had little room for error through the rest of the week.
Sunday and Monday, the All-Stars walked a tight rope without a net.
They pulled out close wins in the final inning of both games.
The wins earned them the right to face undefeated Opelika Wednesday night.
Selma’s magical run ended there.
Opelika plated 10 runs in the first two innings and survived a Selma rally to advance, 13-5.
The loss ended Selma’s season and gave them a third-place finish in the state.
There wasn’t a lot that went right for Selma Wednesday.
They managed five hits, three of which came off the bat of Brad Averitt.
Averitt had a pair of singles, a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Blake Robinson added a single and a run scored.
Clint Maroney scored a run despite not getting a hit.
Jacoby Carter scored a run and batted one home.
James Bennett had an RBI single and Patrick Bonner walked and scored for Selma.
Opelika banged out 11 hits against four Selma pitchers.
Averitt singled with an out to get the game started for Selma.
He advanced to third but was stranded there.
Opelika exploded in the bottom of the inning.
Zach Blatt led off with a single and stole second.
TeRay Mitchell struck out the next batter, but a dropped third strike allowed John Campbell to run all the way to second.
Blatt went home on the play.
Mike Love followed with a walk. Then, John Gunnels bloop single plated a run.
JB Edgar followed with a single and Jeffery Dorsey did the same.
By the time Josh Clark came in and got Selma out of the inning, Opelika had a 6-0 lead.
Justin Brown was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the second.
He was thrown out at second on Bennett’s fielder’s choice.
Bennett was later gunned down trying to steal second to end Selma’s rally chance.
Clark nearly got out of the second without much trouble, but then disaster struck again.
Campbell reached on an error and stole second.
After a groundout, Gunnels singled.
Campbell scored on an error in the outfield.
Edgar walked and after a strikeout, Jase Harper singled.
Spencer Norrell singled home two runs before getting picked off first to end the inning.
After trading scoreless halves of the third, Selma got on the board.
Averitt led off the inning with a single but was thrown out trying to take second.
Maroney struck out, but took first when the third strike was dropped.
Jacoby Carter walked and Brown was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Bennett’s bases loaded single plated Selma’s first run.
Clark forced a run home with a grounder to first.
Trailing 10-2, it was important for Selma to keep Opelika from adding any more runs.
But Opelika scored a run in the bottom of the inning when Love singled, stole second and came home on a pair of errors.
Selma’s offense continued to rally in the fifth inning.
Bonner led off with a walk and Robinson legged out an infield single.
Averitt doubled home a run and Selma had runners at second and third with nobody out.
Opelika brought in Campbell to put out the fire.
He struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a sacrifice fly to Carter.
He got another strikeout to end the inning.
With the lead down to six, Opelika added a pair of insurance run and ended Selma’s rally.
Selma never threatened again and Opelika advanced to the title game.