LUMBERTON – Elizabethtown defeated West Robeson American twice Wednesday night by scores of 11-10 in 8 innings and 3-1 and to win the District 9 Dixie Youth Baseball Coach-Pitch Championship.
A decision was made about 3 p.m. Wednesday to move the championship games to Lumberton because the fields at Pembroke were too wet. Both Elizabethtown and West Robeson American will advance to the DYB Coach-Pitch State Tournament in Richfield.
Elizabethtown exploded for 7 runs in the third inning of the first game. Collin Cole led off with a single but was retired on Hunter Wood’s fielder’s choice. Isaiah Robinson and Conner Hill belted singles to load the bases.
Easton Bostic smashed a triple that cleared the bases scoring Wood, Robinson and Hill. Jayce Hatcher knocked in Bostic with a single, and C. J. McCracken belted a single. Brady Marlowe laced a single that scored Hatcher, and Tyler Eason drove in McCracken with a single. Marlowe also scored on the play.
The two teams were tied 7-7 at the end of the regulation 6 innings, and after a scoreless seventh, Elizabethtown scored 4 times in the top of the eighth. Robinson walloped a triple to start the rally, and Hill cracked a single to drive him in.
Bostic slapped a single, and McCracken slammed a double that scored Hill and Bostic. Eason reached base on an error as McCracken scored to put Elizabethtown ahead 11-7. West Robeson scored 3 times in the bottom of the eighth but came up a run short.
Bostic batted 3-4 with the 3-run triple to lead the Elizabethtown hitters. Robinson finished 2-3 at the plate with a triple. Cole and Hill both batted 2-3, and McCracken was 2-4 with a double. Eason finished 2-4 at the plate, and Hatcher, Marlowe, and Inman Carson added one hit each.
In the decisive second game, neither team scored until the Elizabethtown fourth inning. Hatcher led off with a single, McCracken cracked a single, and Marlowe delivered a single that scored Hatcher.
Eason and Cole reached on fielder’s choices that retired McCracken and Marlowe, but Carson connected for a single that scored Eason and Cole later scored for a 3-0 lead.
The Elizabethtown defense held West Robeson American to only one run in the game.
McCracken and Robinson both batted 2-2 with a double each to lead the Elizabethtown hitters in the second game. Bostic, Hatcher, Marlowe, Eason, Carson and Braylon Cromartie added one hit each.
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