Lunenburg Majors All-Stars go 1-2
Published 11:57 am Wednesday, July 6, 2016
- Photo by Melanie Currin The Lunenburg County Youth Baseball League Majors All-Star team went 1-2 in the Dixie Youth District 5 Majors All-Star Tournament over the holiday weekend. Team members include, from left, front row, Nickolas Field, Jackson Sullivan, Ethan Currin, Jacob Inman, Hogan Whitlow, Benjamin Currin; middle row, Hunter Lacks, Nicholas Link, Sterling Currin, Jordan Daniel, O’Darius Green, Seth Hall; back row, Coach William Adkins, Manager Greg Currin and Coach Lyle Currin.
The Lunenburg County Youth Baseball League Majors All-Star team was eliminated from the Dixie Youth District 5 Majors All-Star Tournament on Monday with a 14-3 loss to the undefeated Dinwiddie National All-Stars.
The boys went 1-2 over the holiday weekend in Blackstone.
Lunenburg Manager Greg Currin said his team held the Dinwiddie squad to four runs on Monday through four innings, “and then it kind of fell apart.”
The early advantage actually belonged to Lunenburg. After a scoreless first inning, Seth Hall bunted and got on base in the second and was batted in by Hogan Whitlow to give Lunenburg a 1-0 lead.
Dinwiddie National took a 4-1 lead by the fourth inning, getting two of its runs off of home runs, but the game was still in reach thanks to a strong performance on the mound by O’Darius Green, who threw 10 strikeouts through four innings. He also had two runs batted in on offense.
Unfortunately, Green came off the mound wrong and hurt his knee with two outs in the fourth, though he stayed in and struck the last batter out.
Dinwiddie was able to get hits off of Green’s replacement later in the game and pulled away.
“I think if we could have had Whitlow come in after him, … I think it would have been a difference,” Currin said.
Whitlow had pitched a complete six-inning game on Sunday, and once a pitcher throws for over three innings, rules state he has to wait 36 hours before he pitches again, Currin said.
Lunenburg eliminated the Dinwiddie American All-Stars on Sunday by handing them a 5-3 loss.
“We definitely hit the ball better,” Currin said, contrasting the offensive performance to the one his team produced in a 13-3 loss to the Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association All-Stars on Friday.
In Lunenburg’s first at-bat on Sunday, Ethan Currin hit a home run. Dinwiddie American later took a 3-1 lead, but Sterling Currin hit a three-run double to put his team back up 4-3. Jackson Sullivan had an RBI in the fifth inning to make the score 5-3.
Whitlow was tremendous on the mound, throwing 12 strikeouts.
“That’s what I expected out of him and the best game of his life, probably,” Manager Currin said.
Green was the lone major bright spot for Lunenburg on Friday against PEFYA. Despite the loss, he threw six strikeouts across three innings, and on offense, he scored Lunenburg’s third run.
“I felt like we did all right,” Currin said. “We struggled in one inning, and they hit the ball well. They’re a good team. We’ve got some good hitters, and we just failed to hit the ball.”
Lunenburg scored its first two runs of the game in the top of the first inning on walks, with Ethan Currin and Sterling Currin being pushed to home from third.
Overall, Greg Currin said he was pleased with his team’s play in the tournament, adding that another pitcher in the rotation and improved hitting could have changed the team’s course.