By By Jared Florreich / staff writer
July 11, 2003
In Day Three action of the Dixie Youth Minor League District Tournament Thursday at Center Hill park, the loser's bracket game featured Westside matched up against Philadelphia National.
Three quick runs in the bottom of the first inning put Philly on top early. Philly added a run in the third. A Trent Stribling walk got things started, and he would score on a wild throwing error on Westside catcher Jermiah Horne after he stole second and third base.
Philly added two more runs in the fourth, thanks to an RBI single by Robert Greer that made the score 6-0 after four.
Westside got on the board with two runs in the fifth, but still found themselves down 6-2 with their final three outs remaining.
Philly used three pitchers in the sixth and all three struggled to find the strike zone. Five straight walks gave Westside a 7-6 lead.
With the bases loaded, Keenan Williams delivered a three-RBI triple and Tavanite Houston followed Williams with a RBI triple of his own. Chris Lyons hit a RBI dribble single down the third base line to make the final score 12-6, much to the delight of a loud and excited Westside crowd.
Westside head coach Francisco Wilson said his team never lost faith.
The winner's bracket game featured East Mississippi against West Lauderdale.
West jumped on East Mississippi early. Four runs came across in the first inning, thanks to the wild pitching of Hunter Graham.
East Mississippi changed pitchers to Ben Griffin, and he retired West to escape further damage.
East Mississippi responded in the top of the second with a four spot of its own. Three doubles found holes in the inning, as the game was knotted at four after two innings of play.
West added two runs in the third, thanks to an RBI by Smokey Ethridge, who finished the game with three RBIs.
East Mississippi had the game-tying runs on in the sixth with no outs, but couldn't get the runs across, as West Lauderdale defeated East Mississippi 6-4.
West takes Friday off, while East Mississippi takes on Westside at 7:30 p.m. today at Center Hill park.