By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
July 16, 2002
The only real sweat the Meridian 13-year-old Babe Ruth team has broken over the last five days has derived from moving from one field to the other.
Meridian broke open an unusually close game midway through Monday night's final game to take a 9-3 win over Long Beach to win the Babe Ruth 13-Year-Old State Tournament on Monday night.
The tourney, scheduled to be played at St. Martin, was completed at Long Beach, the third location that had to be used due to bad weather and poor playing conditions.
With the win, the Meridian squad gets a couple days off before beginning preparations for the Southwest Regional Tournament in Bay City, Texas, which begins a week from Friday.
The Meridian team outscored its opponents 47-15 in the double-elimination state event on the Mississippi Gulf Coast on the way to posting a perfect 4-0 record.
Coach Von Burt said that while there were certainly stars in each game, that the team concept is truly what powered the Meridian All-Stars.
With Meridian leading just 5-3 midway through Monday night's title game, Anthony Taylor sparked a four-run rally with his three-run homer.
Taylor had two hits in the game, as did John L. McRae and Lon Burt.
Paxton Pace went the distance on the mound to take the win.
The Meridian 9-year-old and 10-year-old Cal Ripken teams have also won state titles this year.