Published on Sunday, August 10, 2008

Lumberton Earns Runner-Up at World Series

Best finish ever by a North Carolina AAA baseball team

Troup County team bounces back to defeat Lumberton 9-5

(photos & article courtesy of Daniel Kenney)

(LaGrange, Georgia) - Lumberton has been the team in the 53rd Annual AAA Dixie Youth World Series that refused to go home after their first round loss to Mississippi on Monday. On Saturday morning, the North Carolina team once again showed their resiliency by overcoming a 4-1 deficit in the top of the 4th inning against the host team, Troup County, Georgia. However, in the end, Troup County found enough offense to overtake Lumberton’s 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the 4th inning. This allowed Troup County to finally subdue the team that would not quit, Lumberton, 9-5. With the loss, Lumberton finishes as runner-up, along with the loser of the Troup County vs. Mississippi game scheduled for Saturday night.

The loss by Lumberton ended the best tournament performance that any North Carolina team has ever had in the Dixie Youth AAA World Series. Lumberton started the scoring in the 1st inning when Alec Brewington singled, advanced to second base on a passed ball, and moved to third base on a throwing error by the Troup County catcher. Gage Hardin singled home Brewington to make the score 1-0. Troup County benefited from four walks and an error to score four runs in the bottom of the first inning, giving them an early 4-1 lead.

The scored remained 4-1 until North Carolina battled back with four runs in the top of the 4th inning. Alec Brewington walked and Gage Hardin followed with a single. Evan Odom hit a double to right center field that made the score 4-3. Daniel Oxendine drilled a 2-0 pitch down the left field line to score Odom and tie the game up at 4-4. Troup County was able to retire Raleigh Forrest on an infield pop-up, but Austin Swiderski hit an RBI double to give North Carolina the lead 5-4.

Lumberton was unable to mount another scoring threat during the remainder of the game. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Parker Pearson hit a solo home run for Troup County to tie the game. Five singles enabled Troup County to score four more runs and eventually win the game 9-5.

Leading Hitters for Lumberton:
Alec Brewington was 2 for 2;
Gage Hardin was 3 for 3 with 1 RBI;
Evan Odom was 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs;
Daniel Oxendine was 1 for 3 with 1 RBI;
Austin Swiderski was 2 for 3 with 1 RBI;