Cartersville Little League 10U Purple stopped by Athens
The Cartersville Little League 10U all stars, fresh off a state GRPA championship, hit a bump in the road Monday night at the Georgia Little League 9/10 State Tournament and lost to Athens Little League 10-4 at Midway Little League in Decatur.
The loss eliminated Cartersville from the tournament even though the event is a double elimination format. Cartersville had to forfeit its opening round game last Saturday because they were playing for a state championship in the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association tournament in Savannah. Even with the loss, it has been an excellent tournament season for the group. Cartersville 10U Purple finished 13-1 during GRPA and Georgia Little League post season play.
In Monday’s loss, Athens jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first three innings and never looked back. Athens rapped out 10 hits in the contest and took advantage of six Cartersville errors.
Cartersville managed a run in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 7-1, but Athens added two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to push their advantage to 10-1.
Cartersville rallied for three runs in their final frame, but it was not enough.
Cartersville used four different pitchers in the contest. Drake Carver (1IP, 0ER,1H, 2K), Will Litton (0.2IP, 0ER, 2H, 1K, 1BB), Paul Gamble (2.2IP, 3ER, 5H, 1BB, 1K), and Isaac McNair-Seigler (1.2IP, 0ER, 2H, 2BB) spent time on the mound.
Hunter Kelly had a pair of hits including a three run homer in the sixth. Carver had two hits and drove in a run. McNair-Seigler, Trip Bradley, Nicholas Kennedy, and Litton had the other Cartersville hits.
The Cartersville team is managed by J.J. Norris. His coaches are Jeremy Carver and J.J. Jones. Team members are Avery Higgins, Trip Bradley, Will Litton, Thomas Norris, Paul Gamble, JaKiyon Porter, Brice Craig, Drake Carver, A.J. Christina, Hunter Kelly, Isaac McNair-Seigler, and Nicholas Kennedy.
The Cartersville 12U Little League team opens Georgia Little League state tournament play Saturday, July 25 at Holland Park Youth Complex in Athens.
The Cartersville 11/12 all stars will play the winner of District 7 at 1:30pm.
Other teams already qualified for the Georgia 11/12 state tournament include Northern Columbus, Warner Robins American West, Smyrna, Athens, Midway Heights, and Peachtree City American. The winners of District 7 and District 6 have not yet been determined.
The Georgia Little League 11/12 state tournament concludes July 31 with the winner advancing to the Little League Southeast Regional played this year in Warner Robins, GA.
