By By Robby Atkinson/The Meridian Star
July 21, 2001
Cory Chance was nothing but dominant in day one of the 14 year old Babe Ruth State tournament. Chance pitched a magnificent seven innings in route to six strikeouts to secure an 8-1 decision over Walthall in game two for Meridian.
"It was a great performance," coach George Warner said. "It was a great team effort."
Chance only allowed one base hit throughout his seven innings of pitching work.
Meridian picked up their first run of the contest in the second inning of action when Marcus Boyd scored on a bases loaded walk to give Meridian an early 1-0 edge. Meridian continued the offense in the third inning by picking up three runs to take a 4-0 lead over Walthall. Caleb Dulaney led the inning when he was hit with a pitch and later scored on an RBI single by Randy Diveley.
Diveley later scored on a triple by Marcus Boyd to keep the momentum going for Meridian.
Meridian secured the win by scoring four more runs. Dominic Spinks led the inning off with a single and Dennis Watson also picked up a single to put runners aboard. Both runs crossed the plate on a huge single by Fernando Atterberry. Meridian picked up their other run on a pass ball that scored Kyle Boswell. Atterberry would score eventually on a single by Dulaney.
Meridian advances into tonight's 7 p.m. game against the winner of St. Martin and Jackson.
* Meridian 22, Tupelo 0: Kyle Boswell pitched two innings and had two strikeouts. Boswell gave up a single and two walks in the game for Meridian.
Dennis Watson pitched three innings for Meridian and faced eleven batters and had three strikeouts in the win. Watson only allowed one walk and gave up one hit.
Randy Diveley had a huge day for Meridian going 4-for-4 with three doubles and a single. Fernando Atterberry was 3-for-5 with a single, double, and triple and Caleb Dulaney was 3-for-4 with three singles and three RBI's. Justin Scott also chipped in with a home run and a single.
Kedrick Martin had five RBI's in the contest for Meridian collecting a double and triple.