HEMPSTEAD – A perfect Monday for Washington County’s 8-year-old baseball all-stars gave way to a mixed Tuesday effort in the Texas East District 13 tournament.

Bracket play began this week with the county all-stars still fighting for a district championship.

The county’s White team battled back from two big deficits in its bracket play opener Monday, needing seven innings to pick up a thrilling 13-12 victory over Weimar.

Washington County trailed 7-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth. The county all-stars made good contact throughout the first three innings, but only had five hits to show for it with a run coming in the third on a base hit from Asher Fuller.

After a strikeout opened the bottom of the fourth, Washington County switched into another gear.

Eight straight singles highlighted a five-run inning, hitting the maximum and getting the county all-stars back in the game at 7-6. Bo Finke drove in the inning’s first run with a single to the right side after both Ty Mahon and Luke Wienken reached base.

The rest of Washington County’s fourth-inning runs came with two outs. Brooks Remedios drove in two runs with a base hit to center field. Elijah Merritt and Creed Davis each brought home a run on infield hits to close the inning.

Washington County coach Colby Finke said the fourth-inning explosion marked a turning point from defense to offense lifting his team.

“When the defense was carrying us in the first half, it was a little shocking,” he said. “But then, we turned the bats on midway through and thank God it worked out.”

The county all-stars kept Weimar off the board in the fifth and tied the game in the bottom half on an RBI double from Merlin Dupre to left field.

Weimar’s bats took control in the sixth, scoring five runs on seven straight hits without an out. A leadoff double was followed by six singles to put Washington County back on the brink of defeat.

Yet, the county all-stars fought back for a second time.

Six straight hits and a productive out gave Washington County five runs of its own to tie the game and force a seventh inning. Owen Maynard put down an RBI single in left field with Davis driving in two runs on an infield single after hits from Remedios and Merritt.

Fuller grounded out to first base, but Merritt scored to tie the game at 12-12.

Motivating the all-stars after forcing a seventh inning was not difficult for Finke.

“We told them you are good enough to come out here and beat everybody,” he said. “You know what to do. You know how to do it. Let’s go do it and they answered the call.”

Three straight Weimar outs in the seventh put the county all-stars in great position for its half of the inning. Washington County grounded out twice, but a double from Dupre and a game-winning base hit from Mahon gave the White team a bounce-back win after ending pool play with a tough loss to Rice.

Mahon’s game-winning hit was his fourth of the game in a 4-for-4 evening. Dupre, Davis and Waylon Jungers earned three hits each. Davis drove in three runs to lead the team in RBI.

Five other White team all-stars earned two hits each.

Monday was an easier adventure for the Washington County Green team as it defeated Lee County 17-4 to advance to the second round.

The Green team took control early with a five-run first inning. Seven straight singles without an out marked an efficient offensive inning for Washington County.

Kasen Davis and Jax Kuecker each drove in two runs in the first while Henry Davis ended the inning with an infield RBI single.

After Lee County did not score in the first, Washington County came back with two runs in the second. Noah O’Brien earned an RBI infield single with Emery Sohphanthong driving in a run on a productive out.

Washington County entered the third with a 7-1 lead and took further control with a five-run third inning. Similar to the first inning, the county all-stars earned seven straight hits without an out to reach the five-run limit.

Kasen and Henry Davis both drove in runs as well as Ridge Russell, Doyle Williams and Kuecker.

After not scoring in the fourth, Washington County ended the game with its third five-run inning of the night in the fifth.

Manager Kyle Branham said this year’s tournament has felt a lot like last year at the 7-year-old level with solid efforts from a team that is similar to last year’s squad.

“They kind of picked up where they left off last year,” he said. “They are making the right plays when they need to, rebounding after some errors and hitting the ball when they need to.”

Kasen and Henry Davis as well as Kuecker, Russell and Lincoln Branham all earned three hits.

Tuesday

Both the Green and White teams returned to Hempstead for second round games on Tuesday. Unlike the day before, only one team experienced a winning feeling.

The Green team began the day with an 11-1 win over Twin Cities National. Five-run innings in the first and third frame put Washington County in position to earn its run-rule victory, which came after the top of the fourth.

All but two of the county all-stars recorded a hit Tuesday with Will Dryer and Reid Windham each earning two hits. Each player earned their third multi-hit game of the tournament.

Both players earned their first hit of the game in Washington County’s five-run first inning. Windham drove in a run with an RBI double while Dryer led the inning off with a single.

Windham came around to score in the third after his second hit of the game. Dryer’s second hit came in the second inning, but an out on the bases ended the frame and kept the county all-stars at one run for the inning.

The White team, meanwhile, fell 14-3 against the La Grange Purple team. La Grange started the game with a five-run first inning with Washington County unable to respond.

La Grange extended its lead to 8-0 in the second before Washington County responded by scoring off an error.

The county all-stars scored off of another one of La Grange’s six errors in the third before Dupre earned Washington County’s first RBI hit of the game on a base hit to left field.

With a 10-3 lead, La Grange put an early end to proceedings with a four-run fifth inning.

Dupre was the only White team all-star to record multiple hits Tuesday. Drake Keltgen and Jungers joined Dupre in earning an RBI through runs driven in on La Grange errors.

The White team will return to action in the loser’s bracket on Thursday against Rice. The Green team will have two days of rest in the winner’s bracket and will face the La Grange Purple team on Friday.