Submitted article
Tri Township's pursuit of a return to National Babe Ruth World Series Championship game for the second time in four years started Friday afternoon in the state of Washington. The road may not be easy, but that has never
dissuaded the boys of Tri-Township, and game one of the World Series showed this year would be no different. Drawing what some might say is the toughest draw, they opened their World Series run against defending national champion Alabama, and the game surely lived up to its billing, opening the tournament with a 4-1 Tri-Township win.
In the bottom of the first, Alabama scored the first run when the hot hitter of the game, Tracey Hadley (2-for-3), led off with a double and advanced on consecutive putouts. Tri-Township quickly responded when Bailey Hammer doubled in Brad Stoltzfus for the tying run. Over the next few innings, a trio of pitchers for Alabama stymied multiple scoring opportunities. Alabama showed why they are defending champions, escaping unscathed four innings when Tri-Township had runners at second with less than two outs.
Daulton Smoot, pitching for Tri-Township, was not going to be outperformed. After allowing one run in the first, he pitched eight more innings of shutout baseball, stopping every semblance of scoring opportunities with five
strikeouts and tough pitches that forced hitters to put the ball where his defense could execute the putouts. The defense remained strong, committing no errors.
In the top of the ninth, Tri-Township put the pressure on by getting the leadoff batter on, then playing small ball to increase the pressure and break it open with three unanswered runs that led to their victory. Bailey Hammer
singled sharply to the outfield to start the inning, followed by a well-placed bunt by Zane Moyer that left the defending champions with no choice but to allow the runner to advance to second and take the out at first. Pat Driscoll singled on the next pitch, putting runners at first and third. Dennis Long pinch ran for Driscoll, and Tri-Township used their speed to execute the second sacrifice bunt of the inning, this one by Kyle Irwin. His successful bunt scored the go-ahead run and advanced the insurance run to second. Tri-Township was not done. The next two batters continue the momentum with singles by Robert Knox and a double by Pat Reilly (2-for-3), giving Tri-Township a 4-1 win.
Good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting ultimately resulted in Tri-Township starting their World Series tournament with a win.
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