By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
July 8, 2002
The games were much closer in the second day of the 9-10 year-old Cal Ripken State Baseball Tournament being played at Phil Hardin Park.
Six games were played on Sunday and four of those games were decided by three runs or less. Oxford eliminated Olive Branch 7-5, Vicksburg beat North Jackson in a winners' bracket game 7-5, Stone County eliminated Ripley 17-12 while Orange Grove sent Oxford packing 4-1 and Stone County put New Albany out 15-2. Meridian beat Jefferson Davis 11-0.
Four games will be played on Monday with three of the contests being played in the losers' bracket. Jefferson Davis County will play Orange Grove at 1 p.m. followed by North Jackson and Stone County at 3 p.m. Vicksburg will play Meridian at 5 p.m. in the only winners' bracket game and then the winners from the first two games of the day will play in the 7 p.m. nightcap.
Oxford 7
Olive Branch 5
Justin Kiraly hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to erase a 2-0 Olive Branch lead and help give Oxford a 7-5 win over Olive Branch in the first elimination game of the day.
Barton Hudson also tripled and later scored in the inning to give Oxford a 4-2 lead after one inning. Oxford added two more in the second inning and held on for the win.
Olive Branch scored two runs in the third inning to cut the lead to 6-4 but could never get any closer.
Cameron Hendricks had a double for Oxford and Brandon Blake had two singles. Kiraly picked up the win on the mound for Oxford while Joe Weatherly got the loss.
Stone County 17
Ripley 12
Scott Thames had three singles and a double and also pitched a solid game to lead Stone County over Ripley 17-12 in the second elimination game of the day.
Stone County scored two runs in each of the first two innings and then scored seven in the third inning. Three runs in each of the last two innings secured the win for Stone County.
Ripley scored nine runs in the third inning to get within two runs but could not make a comeback.
Spencer Wilson and Austin Archer had two singles for Stone County. Tray Harris also had two singles in the win.
Chanston Jeter had a home run for Ripley. Chase Champan had three singles and a double and Rashan Williamson had two doubles. Kristian Ferrell had two singles in the loss.
Orange Grove 4
Oxford 1
Joey Lacy pitched a complete game one-hitter to lead Orange Grove past Oxford 4-1 in the third elimination game of the day.
Lacy also had one of the three Orange Grove hits and scored a run.
Orange Grove scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead and then secured the victory with two runs in the fourth.
Oxford scored its only run in the top of the fourth inning. Cameron Hendricks was the tough-luck loser on the mound for Oxford.
Stone County 15
New Albany 2
Spencer Wilson pitched five innings and gave up only two hits and one run to help Stone County take a 15-2 win in the fourth and final elimination game of the day. Stone County scored at least one run in each inning. The winners scored two runs in four of the innings and scored six runs in the final frame.
Scott Thames had a single and double while Austin Archer had two singles. Wilson finished the game with a single and double and Holden Watts also had a single and double.
Will Ashley had three singles for New Albany but ended the game with the loss on the mound.
Vicksburg 7
North Jackson 5
Vicksburg scored a run in the top of the first and five in the second and held on for a 7-5 win over North Jackson in a winners' bracket game.
North Jackson scored four runs in the second to make the score 6-4 but could not make the comeback. Vicksburg turned a double play in the final inning to secure the victory. Darren White had a double for Vicksburg. Ryno Martin-nez had two singles and a double while Stephen Evans and Chris Snow each had two singles.
Peyton Johnson had a single and home run for North Jackson. Michael McClarity had two singles.
With the loss, North Jackson dropped into the losers' bracket.