Tri-County Majors Have Tournament Run End, 11-1
KINGSFORD---Deep down, everyone in Eben, Trenary, Rock, Perkins, Limestone, and all points in between knew that this might happen. The Tri-County Major Boys (age 11-12) were appearing in the district finals for the first time in more than 20 years, and the boys were playing a Kingsford team that had two nine-inning games earlier in the week. Kingsford scored early and often against the Tri-County All-Stars, posting an 11-1 win at East Kingsford Field.
Nate Krueger runs to second for a double.
The Tri-County boys knew that they were underdogs, but they were enthusiastic, hoping that they could hang around against the bigger and deeper Kingsford lineup. But those hopes were dashed early on by Austin VanPembrook, who retired Tri-County without a run in the top of the first, and then crushed an inside-the-park home run. Van Pembrook got unlucky, though, when the throw to the plate hit him in the face.It swelled up on him and he ended up sitting in the dugout with an ice pack the rest of the night. But VanPembrook's teammates picked him up. Aden Johnston and Darren Wood had RBI singles to make it 3-0, then in the second inning, Wes McClain doubled and scored on an infield hit by Jacob Brousley. Johnston followed with his second RBI hit and it was 5-0. Tri-County got its only run in the third inning as Wade Krysiak singled and eventually scored on an infield hit by Evan Hall. A line drive double play turned by Wood at second base helped to squelch what could have been a bigger inning for Tri-County.
Tri-County center-fielder Josh Kulik.
McClain added another two-run double in the fifth inning to make it 10-1, then scored on an error to end the game on the mercy rule. Kingsford will play Gladstone on Saturday in a loser's bracket game. Gladstone lost to Norway, 9-5, on Friday (see seperate story). Tri-County ends its season with a loss, but as Coach Matt Blondeau said at the end, "We had fun!" Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see more photos and a few videos from the game. |