PEMBROKE – Elizabethtown pounded out 24 hits en route to a 17-4 mercy-rule victory over West Robeson National Friday night in the District 9 Dixie Youth Baseball Coach-Pitch Tournament at the Pembroke Recreation Park.
Elizabethtown opened the first inning with six straight hits. Easton Bostic led off with a single, and Jayce Hatcher belted a single. C. J McCracken belted a single that scored Bostic, and Brady Marlowe drilled a single to centerfield that scored Hatcher.
Tyler Eason cracked a single that scored McCracken, and Braylon Cromartie delivered a single that brought home Marlowe. Collin Cole’s fielder’s choice plated Eason, and Inman Carson’s sacrifice fly scored Cromartie for a 6-0 Elizabethtown lead.
West Robeson National answered with 2 runs in the home first. After a scoreless second, Elizabethtown stretched the lead to 10-2 with 4 runs in the third.
McCracken beat out an infield hit, and Marlowe hammered a double. Ground-outs by Eason and Cromartie brought home McCracken and Marlowe. Cole and Carson rapped back-to-back singles, and Tatum and Hunter Wood drove in runs with singles.
Elizabethtown sealed the victory with 7 runs in the fourth inning. Conner Hill started the inning with a single, and Bostic and Hatcher smacked singles to load the bases. McCracken hammered a shot off the shortstop that scored Hill.
Marlowe laced a single that scored Bostic and Hatcher, and Eason, Cromartie and Cole connected for consecutive singles that brought home McCracken, Marlowe and Eason. After a Tatum infield hit loaded the bases, Wood ended the inning with a single that scored Cromartie with the seventh run that boosted the lead to 17-2.
West Robeson scored 2 runs in the home fourth but the game was halted by the ten-run rule.
Marlowe batted a perfect 3-3 with a double to lead the Elizabethtown hitters. McCracken and Tatum also finished with perfect 3-3 games at the plate. Bostic, Hatcher, Eason, Cromartie, Cole and Wood all turned in 2-3 games at the plate. Carson, Isaiah Robinson and Hill added one hit each.
Elizabethtown advances to a second-round winner’s bracket game against Lumberton National at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
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