YOUTH BASEBALL: EABC 8s top LaRue in back-to-back games for district title (07/15)

By CHUCK JONES cjones@thenewsenterprise.com LEITCHFIELD — The Elizabethtown Area Baseball Commission 8-year-old All-Stars faced a severe uphill climb Monday night, needing to win two games to claim the Cal Ripken District 10 Tournament. But Elizabethtown coach Mike Pyles and his coaching staff simplified things for his team. Instead of looking at the big picture, Pyles spoke to his team about winning each inning. Mission accomplished. Elizabethtown raced out to a 9-1 lead on its way to a 16-4 victory over LaRue County to avoid elimination and force a second game. It was more of the same in the nightcap as Elizabethtown rolled to a 12-2 mercy-rule win in four innings to wrap up the district championship. “We talked to them about winning each inning,” Pyles said. “They’ve pounded us once and beat us by one run twice. We wanted to be aggressive on the bases. We thought if we won each inning the rest would take care of itself and it did.” The Elizabethtown defense made the plays it had to make to keep LaRue County off the bases. LaRue County’s biggest inning was a two-run second in the first game. “If anything, I don’t believe I’ve seen a better set of gloves come through our Peanut League,” Pyles said. “We have so many kids capable of playing short and third. We really put an emphasis on outfield. Tonight we have the right combination in the right spots and it worked.” LaRue County has finished second or better in the four tournaments it has been in. The team won tournaments in Scottsville and Edmonson County and finished second in Bowling Green. “E’town deserved to win in every way,” LaRue County coach Scott Boley said. “We have been outscoring everyone. If you would have told me we’d score 20 runs in 10 innings, I’d be disappointed. We only scored six runs in 10 innings, which is very disappointing. “We just didn’t hit the ball,” he added. “We made too many mistakes. They really haven’t hurt us because we’ve been outscoring team by so much. But they really show up when you’re not hitting the ball.” Elizabethtown won its age group for the second consecutive season. Last year, Elizabethtown beat Meade County in the 7-year-old championship. “It feels good,” Elizabethtown shortstop Paul Fiepke said. “LaRue County’s a really good team and they deserved to win. I’m proud of them. Both of us have really good teams. Winning the first game gave us a little more confidence.” Not only did Elizabethtown win the first game, but it scored five runs in the top of the sixth, which seemed to have a carryover effect to the nightcap. “I’m glad we won the first one and it pumped me up for the second one,” Elizabethtown outfielder Edward Alexander said. “It was exciting to win.” In the second game, LaRue County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on doubles by Dalton Skaggs and Jaxon Boley, but Elizabethtown responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning on run-scoring singles by Ben Godfrey and Kass Disney. Elizabethtown broke the game open in the second. With two outs and the bases loaded, Tyler Durbin laced a two-run single down the third-base line. Ben Pyles followed with a two-run triple and Alexander singled to bring in Pyles to give Elizabethtown a 7-1 lead. “It felt really good to win,” said Durbin, who went 5-for-5 in the two games after asking his father, Derek, to throw him extra batting practice earlier Monday. “I haven’t been an All-Star before, so it’s great to win a championship. It (batting practice) helped me a lot.” Leading 8-2, Elizabethtown scored four runs in the fourth highlighted by Coleman Clark’s walk-off single to secure the championship. Alexander went 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored and three RBIs, while Godfrey was 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Pyles had two hits, including a triple, and scored twice, while Graham Meek, Fiepke and Durbin, who scored twice, each collected two singles. Jackson Webb doubled, while Jey Gregory, Harrison Moore, Disney and Clark each had a single. Boley led LaRue County with two hits, while Chase Puyear and Skaggs each had a double. Briar Holt, Noah Thompson and Brandon Cecil each had a single. In Elizabethtown’s 16-4 win, Alexander collected four hits, including two doubles, and scored three times, while Fiepke had three singles, a double, two runs scored and three RBIs. Durbin had two triples, a single and three runs scored and Moore had a double and triple. Graham Meek had three singles, while Disney and Coleman each had two singles. Godfrey had a triple and Trent Wood, Pyles, Webb and Gregory each had a single. LaRue County was led by Puyear with three singles. Boley and Thompson each had two single and drove in a run, while Dane Milby had a double. Eli Gibson, Skaggs and Holt each had a single. Chuck Jones can be reached at 505-1759