Rasean McKoy walloped 2 home runs, and Brady Hollingsworth and Garrett Melvin combined on a 2-hitter to lead the Elizabethtown All Star team to a 17-1 victory over Red Springs in the first round of the District 9 Major League District Tournament.
Ethan Johnson led off the Elizabethtown first with a single and advanced on a passed ball. Zach Meares reached base on an error that allowed Johnson to score. Brady Hollingsworth ripped a single and moved up on a passed ball. Raymond Autry’s sacrifice brought home Meares.
After a Jacob Priest walk, Hollingsworth galloped home on a passed ball. Rasean McKoy slugged a 2-run homer to left-centerfield to cap the 5-run inning. Hollingsworth issued one walk in the bottom of the inning, but only faced 4 batters as he ended the inning with a strikeout.
Chase Starkloff lined a double to right-centerfield to begin the top of the second and darted to third base on a passed ball. A sacrifice by Greyson Clark plated Starkloff. Makhi Cromartie singled and advanced to third on two passed balls. A sacrifice by Victor Campbell scored Cromartie and stretched the Ellizabethown lead to 7-0. Hollingsworth struck out all three Red Springs batters in the bottom of the second.
Meares started the Elizabethtown third with a single, and Hollingsworth reached base on an error. Autry knocked in both Meares and Hollingsworth with a single. After McKoy was hit by a pitch, Melvin’s sacrifice plated Autry.
Starkloff slammed his second double of the game that scored McKoy, and Johnson cracked a single to score Starkloff and widen the gap to 12-0. Melvin relieved Hollingsworth on the mound for Elizabethtown in the third inning. Red Springs connected for two hits, but Melvin struck out three Red Springs batters to end the inning.
Walks to Cromartie and Priest sandwiched around an Autry single loaded the bases in the Elizabethtown fourth inning. McKoy blasted a grand slam to center to clear the bases. Clark reached on an error and later scored on a single by Campbell to give Elizabethtown a 17-0 lead. Two Red Springs players drew walks in the bottom of the fourth, and two throwing errors accounted for the Red Springs run.
McKoy crushed the 2 home runs to drive in 6 runs and also scored 3 times to lead the 12-hit Elizabethtown attack. Starkloff hammered the 2 doubles, scored twice and drove in a run. Autry drove in 3 runs with his 2 hits and scored once. Johnson also connected for 2 hits, scored a run and drove in a run. Meares, Hollingsworth, Campbell and Cromartie smacked one hit each for the winners.
Hollingsworth, Meares, Priest and Cromartie scored 2 runs each, and Clark scored one. Campbell drove in 2 runs, and Clark and Melvin drove in one run each. Hollingsworth pitched 2 hitless innings and struck out four batters.
Melvin struck out three in his 2 innings of work and allowed 2 hits. Elizabethtown will play Scotland Sunday at 6 p.m. in the second round.
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