HEMPSTEAD — Washington County’s White team of 8-year-old baseball all-stars could not keep their summer run going Thursday after taking a 17-5 loss to Rice in the loser’s bracket of the Texas East District 13 tournament.
Rice took early control of the game with a four-run top of the first. Washington County allowed five straight singles before getting the first out of the game on the bases.
The county all-stars recorded a pair of hits in the bottom of the first, but could not bring home a run to respond to Rice. Creed Davis and Merlin Dupre each earned hits.
Rice widened its lead further with a five-run second inning. Washington County again made solid contact at the plate in its half, but ran into groundouts to the pitcher. Waylon Jungers earned a two-out single into left field for the county’s lone hit of the frame.
Washington County was in position to get out of the third with no outs after a strikeout put the second out on the board. However, three straight RBI hits for Rice marked its second straight five-run inning. A triple into right field was sandwiched between a pair of RBI singles to push Rice’s edge to 14-0.
Both singles saw Washington County commit errors in the field to allow runs to score. Rice’s fifth run of the inning was also waved home on a call coach Colby Finke said was due to interference.
Even in a big hole, the county all-stars did not let their summer run go quietly into the night.
Washington County matched Rice’s five-run inning with one of its own in the third. The county all-stars recorded seven straight hits along with a productive groundout to trim its deficit to 14-5.
Asher Fuller opened the scoring with his only hit of the night on a two-RBI base hit into right field. Davis earned his second hit on an RBI infield single with Myles Morales putting an RBI single into left field. Brooks Remedios hit into a groundout, but drove the fifth run home.
Finke was proud of his team for continuing to fight rather than keeping its head down.
“That has been something we have preached to them since day one, so it was good to see that they kept pushing,” he said.
Rice put pressure on Washington County with a three-run fourth inning. A 17-5 Rice lead meant the county all-stars needed to score two runs to stay in the game.
However, Washington County’s fourth inning looked more like the first two frames. Bo Finke earned his only hit of the game on a two-out single, but more contact within the infield resulted in outs to close the game.
Finke said emotions over the end of the summer run began to set in for his team later in the game. For a team composed of 8-year-old players, the sadness over elimination did not surprise him.
“They are eight, so there are definitely some emotions there that they have probably never felt,” he said.
Following Thursday’s game, Finke spent plenty of time talking to his team. He said the final postgame huddle for his team was spent talking about life lessons, including ones of staying positive through tough situations and pushing through until the end of games.
He also kept Thursday’s elimination in perspective for his team, which will have several more Little League years ahead.
“This does not dictate the rest of their life,” Finke said. “It is a very small portion of what hopefully will lead to something, so just kind of making sure they feel good about everything.”
Washington County still has one team left in the 8-year-old baseball district tournament. The county’s Green team had its second straight day off Thursday and took on the La Grange Purple team on Friday in the winner’s bracket.
A Friday win would put Washington County Green into the semifinals where either Bellville or Sealy awaited in a 8 p.m. game on Sunday for a berth in the finals.
Inclement weather late Wednesday evening at Burton forced a change in the Texas East District 13 8-year-old softball tournament schedule.
Wednesday’s only late game between Rice and Bellville was pushed to Thursday after both 6 p.m. games were played. The Rice-Bellville postponement forced the rest of the loser’s bracket to be pushed back one day.
The third round of the winner’s bracket, including Washington County’s matchup against Columbus, was also pushed to Friday night. The game remained slated for an 8 p.m. start on the lower field.
The tournament postponements ensured Washington County would have a Saturday game regardless of its Friday result. A loss to Columbus would send the county all-stars into a 6 p.m. loser’s bracket game. A Friday win, though, would send Washington County into an 8 p.m. semifinal game against the La Grange/Sealy winner.
The district tournament championship is now scheduled for Tuesday night, aligning with the other two Special Games divisions in the district. The if-necessary game in the district finals was pushed to Wednesday night.
Originally published on brenhambanner.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.