Philadelphia grabs district championship

By By Dale McKee / staff writer
July 11, 2002
WAYNESBORO The Philadelphia Dixie Boys 13-year-old All-Stars scored eight times in the third inning and went on to defeat Laurel/Jones County 13-3 to claim the district championship Tuesday night.
The game was delayed two hours because of a late afternoon rain shower, but when play began, Philadelphia clubbed ten hits to claim the title and
advance to the state tournament this weekend in Hattiesburg.
Philadelphia, the home team in the title game, used a third inning two-out strikeout to tally three of their eight runs in the inning. The bases were loaded in the bottom of the third, and two were out when hitter Tuntderick Burnside struck out. Burnside then made it to first when the muddy ball was not caught by the catcher, and the resulting throw to first to get the final out of the inning went into right field. All three runners scored, and Burnside ended up at third.
Philadelphia had three singles and used four walks plus a fielder's choice to score the eight runs in the third. Tyler Nicholson and Corey Luke had RBI singles, and Ansley Hudson drove in a run with a walk in the inning.
Philadelphia also scored one in the first, and two each in the second and the fourth innings. The game was called after four and a half innings because of the 10-run rule.
The winners were led by Hudson and Burnside with two hits each. Luke, Coker Fulton, Alex Deaton, Justin Hardy, Cody Bryan, and Nicholson all had solo hits.
LJC scored two in the third and one in the fourth.
Fulton hurled four innings and was credited with the win. Bryan worked the fifth inning.
In 14-year-old district play Wayne County downed Philadelphia 7-6 to advance to the state tournament in Laurel on July 20. Wayne County won the best two-out-of-three with a 12-10 win in the opener, but lost game two 16-4. WC will meet Water Valley at 2 p.m.