LOCKWOOD FOLLY — The West Chatham 8U All-Star team remained alive entering fourth day action on Monday in the 2019 North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball State Tournament down in Lockwood Folly in Brunswick County.
In the opener on Saturday afternoon in the sweltering summer time heat on the eastern North Carolina coast, Boger City used a five-run outburst in the top of the first and never looked back in rolling to a 12-5 victory over the locals.
Boger City, from Lincoln County, added four more runs in the second to go up 9-0 before West Chatham mounted a rally in the top of the fourth with four runs to close the gap to 9-4.
The momentum for the locals was halted in the bottom of the frame when Boger City answered with a pair of runs before the teams traded a run each to make the final 12-5.
Joshua Dean doubled to start off the uprising in the fourth for West Chatham before Hayden Dark and Cooper Smith belted back-to-back singles, and Austin Morgan slammed a two-run double. Morgan would later score on consecutive ground outs from Jennings Russell and Tanner Nall.
Three straight base hits by Anderson Paige, Jameson Douglas, and Ridge Hicks in off the fifth led to the final run for West Chatham.
Dean was 2-for-3 with a run in the loss for West Chatham while Morgan was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI, and Russell added a base hit in the first behind Morgan as WC left two aboard.
West Chatham faced District 1 nemesis South Stanly on a squelching hot Sunday afternoon in loser’s bracket play. South Stanly had beaten West Chatham twice just a week earlier to lay claim to the district title.
This time things would be different as the two familiar foes went out it back and forth until West Chatham captured a wild 7-6 victory in seven innings when Morgan singled in Smith who had reached earlier on a fielder’s choice after Dark had singled to lead off the top of the inning. After Smith advanced to second, Morgan came up with the clutch hit as Smith darted across home plate to ignited a jubilant celebration by the local players and fans alike.
West Chatham had taken a 3-0 advantage early with three runs in the behind singles from Jackson Clark, PaIge, Hicks and Bryson Green and consecutive doubles by Harrison Baxter, Dark, and Smith, and another single by Morgan.
South Stanly tied the game at 3-all in the bottom of the fourth when Levi Dennis doubled, Cooper Hinson tripled, Connor Brayles doubled, and Kortez Ingram singled.
Base hits from Baxter, Smith and Morgan led to another run in the fifth by West Chatham to up the lead to 5-4 before South Stanly answered with a run in the bottom of the inning behind a triple from Gage Hudson and a single from Kinston Dockery.
A double by Dean and singles from Paige and Hicks led to a pair of runs for West Chatham in the visiting half of the sixth but South Stanly tied the game up at 6-all in the home half of the frame with two runs behind singles from Dennis, Myles Guide, Hinson, Maverick Brown and Brayles.
West Chatham got the final out of the frame with the bases loaded to send the contest to extra innings where the locals pulled out the huge win over South Stanly 7-6 behind the heroics of Morgan, Smith and Dark.
Morgan has a monster game at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance while Clark was 3-for-4 with a run, Baxter 2-for-3 with two runs, Hicks and Dean each 2-for-3 with a run, Dark and Nall both 2-for-3, and Smith 2-for-4 with a run and a double.
The victory propelled West Chatham into the 5:15 pm contest later on Sunday against host Lockwood Folly.
Lockwood Folly tallied two runs in the first and another in the second to go up 3-0 early before a two-run triple by Ridge Hicks in the bottom of the second and subsequent run of his own tied the game at 3-all to give the locals momentum that it never would relinquish in winning 6-3 to remain alive in the states.
Smith would go 2-for-2 with a triple and a run in the win while Dean was 2-for-2 with a run, Smith and Morgan both 1-for-2 with doubles and a run, Clark and Dark 1-for-2 with runs, and Paige and Green 1-for-2 each.
Elijah Bell, Camden Helms and Jacob Woodard all singled as part of the two run first before DeClan Rachel, Landon Sligh, Jaxon Zaragoga and Axley Hughes singled to produce a run in the second.
Dean and Clark each singled to ignite the West Chatham uprising in the home half of the second before Hicks mashed the triple and scored moments later on a ground out to third by Green.
West Chatham added a three-run third to go up 6-3 behind a leadoff single from Dark, back-to-back RBI-doubles from Smith and Morgan, and an RBI-single with two outs by Dean.
Hicks and Dean would both single in the fourth but West Chatham would not score before going down in order in the fifth.
Lockwood Folly loaded the bases in the top of the fourth behind base hits from Jaden Pickler, Raleigh Winslow, and Sligh but a ground out to second ended the threat with the bags full.
Leadoff singles from Rachel and Brylan Marlowe in the top of the 5th gave Lockwood Folly another scoring opportunity but West Chatham would record three consecutive outs to preserve its 6-3 advantage once again.
West Chatham would retire Lockwood Folly in order in the sixth to take the huge win and advance to face Leland in fourth-round action.