DIXIE MINORS

Despite seven hits and not allowing a run past the second inning, the Greenville 9 and 10-year-old Dixie Minor All-Stars fell to Eufaula, 4-1.

“They jumped out to a 4-1 lead, and that’s how it stayed the rest of the game,” said coach Keith Taylor.

The loss means no more Greenville squads are in the Dixie Minor playoffs.

“We got some hits, just not at the right time,” Taylor said. “We loaded the bass twice and left twelve men on base.”

Taylor said the boys tallied seven hits and only struck out five times, a tournament low.

“We pitched well enough to win,” Taylor said. “Eufaula was just making a lot of plays.”

Pitcher Luke Taylor gave up five hits and struck out 13.

It was a matter of offense, not defense, Taylor said.

“The only base runner they got after the third reached on an error,” Taylor said. “We had seven hits from seven different players, but a lot of them popped it up or grounded out.”

MINORS - ROOKIE

When it was all over, the coach summed up the game with three words.

“It was bad,” said Randall Petty, coach of the 9-year old Greenville All-Stars.

Despite their best efforts, Petty said, the game against Troy Nationals ended 38-15, which means the end of the line for the young squad.

“They kept trying to the end,” Petty said. We tried to come back in the fourth and kept it going. You can sometimes score ten runs in an inning.”

The outcome of the game was a little surprising, Petty said, if you consider their performance against the Troy American team on Saturday, which ended in a victory 30-29.

“They weren’t really any better than the American team,” Petty said. “My pitching just didn’t come through-we had a lot of walks, and it got out of hand.”

Petty said his boys did well on the bases and were hitting the ball, they just couldn’t score runs as fast as they were giving them up.

“We walked too many batters,” Petty said. “We had a bunch of 3-2 counts that didn’t go our way and put their players on base.”

DIXIE BOYS

It’s more bad baseball news for Greenville as the Dixie Boys 13 and 14-year-old All-Stars team were defeated by Enterprise 22-1 to knock them out of the tournament.

Coach Marty Whigham said his team was still recuperating from Friday’s game versus Covington, when they lost 8-2.

“Our pitchers got worn down from that game,” Whighham said. “Enterprise jumped out early, scoring a bunch of runs, and our guys just gave up.”

Whigham said his players may have lost both games, but at least they got to experience play at the next level.

“They learned from this and didn’t come home empty handed,” Whigham said. “They are all winners.”