After all avenues were exhausted, the end of an interesting road came for the Wilson City Little League Ages 8-10 all-stars Monday at the Tournament of State Champions, a production of Little League Baseball’s Southeast Region.
Wilson, needing a win or a lot of help to advance to the semifinals Tuesday, was instead sent home by a familiar foe, Greenville Tar Heel, with an 11-0 loss in four innings at Southern Bank Stadium. It was the second straight shutout loss for WCLL, which began the tournament by spilling Northeast of St. Petersburg, the Florida champion. Wilson could have possibly advanced with losses by Huntington (West Virginia) and Northern (Georgia), but the latter won big in the final game to extinguish WCLL’s last flicker of hope.
Tuesday’s semifinals start at 10 a.m. with Northern facing South Carolina champion Northwood while Tar Heel will meet Tennessee champion Goodlettsville at 12:45 p.m. Northwood and Goodlettsville both finished 3-0 in group play.
Wilson was held to just three hits by a pair of Greenville hurlers, Haiden Simo and Brayden Winfield, and committed three errors in losing to Tar Heel for the second time in as many meetings. The teams collided in the North Carolina Little League championship tourney in Greenville earlier this month.
Wilson was the only team among the eight that didn’t win a state championship, instead going in place of the Alabama state champion that couldn’t make the trip. WCLL, which finished third in the state tournament, accepted when the N.C. runner-up, Myers Park Trinity of Charlotte, refused the offer to play as a replacement team.
Easton Meadows was 2 for 3 with two RBIs while Simo and Cannon Warren each had two hits. Simo tripled and drove in two runs while scoring twice. Cayden McNeil slapped an RBI double.
Bowman Smith doubled for Wilson while Wood Berry and Colton High drilled singles.
GOODLETTSVILLE (Tenn.) 15, HUNTINGTON (W.Va.) 2
Goodlettsville, which had already punched its ticket to the elimination rounds, finished a perfect 3-0 in group play after administering a knockout to Huntington before the West Virginia champion even came to the plate.
The Tennessee champion scored 13 runs in the first inning but only had eight singles in the four-inning game. Jackson White and Jayden Lee each were 2 for 2. Lee knocked in four runs and White drove in a pair for Goodlettsville. Easton Spain pitched all four innings for the win.
Bretton Gililand and Jace Moss each had RBI hits for Huntington, which finished 1-2 and in fifth place overall.
NORTHERN (GA.) 15, NORTHEAST (FLA.) 5
Needing a win to advance, Georgia champion Northern of Midland played its best game of the three-day group play, piling up 16 hits in the four-inning romp.
Kam Carter led the bash-fest with three doubles and a triple in a 4-for-4 day that in cluded three runs batted in and three runs scored. Jett Lawrence doubled twice and singled in three at-bats, driving in two runs, while Eric King was 3 for 4 with three runs scored. Raydmond Gash also collected three hits. Tanner Hefner doubled in a run and Bryce Jones tripled in two.
Carter Williams was 2 for 3 with an RBI to lead Northeast, which finished 0-3.
NORTHWOOD (S.C.) 7, TUCKAHOE (VA.) 6
For the third time in as many games, Northwood rallied to pull out a victory in the last three innings in Monday’s finale at Gillette Baseball Complex.
After coming back to beat Huntington and Northeast, Northwood needed three runs in the top of the sixth inning to hold off Tuckahoe, the Virginia champion seeking its first win in Wilson. Harlan Bright popped a two-run singled and Zac Schrader singled in another run as Northwood, from Taylors, S.C., took a 7-5 lead.
Tuckahoe rallied for one run and had the tying run on second when Northwood left fielder Matthew Choi gloved Graham Hensley’s liner to end the game.
Bright was 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs while Schrader was 2 for 2 with a double and three RBIs.
Davis Woods was 2 for 4 with three RBIs for Tuckahoe while Harrison Hunn tripled and Bryce Lawson singled twice.
TOSC Ages 8-10 Glance
Saturday, July 23
10 a.m. Tar Heel (Greenville, N.C.) 5, Tuckahoe (Henrico, Va.) 1
12:45 pm. Northwood (Taylors, S.C.) 7, vs. Huntingon (Huntington, W.Va.) 4
3:30 p.m. Wilson City (N.C.-R) 9, Northeast (St. Petersburg, Fla.) 2
6:15 p.m. Goodlettsville (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) 8, Northern (Midland, Ga.) 3
Sunday, July 24
10 a.m. Northwood (S.C.) 5, Northeast (Fla.) 4
12:45 p.m. Goodlettsville (Tenn.) 9, Tuckahoe (Va.) 6
3:30 p.m. Huntington (W.Va.) 13, Wilson City (N.C.-R) 0, 4 innings
6:15 p.m. Northern (Ga.) 11, Tar Heel (N.C.) 1
Monday, July 25
10 a.m. Goodlettsville (Tenn.) 15, Huntington (W.Va.) 2
12:45 p.m. Tar Heel (N.C.) 11, Wilson City (N.C.-R) 0
3:30 p.m. Northern (Ga.) 15, Northeast (Fla.) 5
6:15 p.m. Northwood (S.C.) 7, Tuckahoe (Va.) 6
Tuesday, July 26
Semifinals
Northwood (S.C.) vs. Northern (Ga.), 10 a.m.
Goodlettsville (Tenn.) vs. Tar Heel (N.C.), 12:45 p.m.
Wednesday, July 27
Championship, 11 a.m.
Standings
Teams with two or more wins will advance to the elimination round that will be structured based on the number of qualifying teams, from four to six. Tiebreakers are head-to-head results and defensive runs per inning allowed (ARI), based on defensive runs allowed (RA) and defensive innings played (DIP).
Team W L RA DIP ARI
*Goodlettsville 3 0 11 18 .611
*Northwood 3 0 14 18 .778
*Northern 2 1 14 18 .778
*Tar Heel 1 1 12 18 .667
Huntington 1 2 22 18 1.222
Wilson City 1 2 26 18 1.444
Tuckahoe 0 3 21 18 1.167
Northeast 0 3 29 18 1.611
* Advanced to semifinals
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