Science Hill — fter the Wayne County Little League All-Stars wrapped up the Area 1 Little League Tournament, it was down to the stars from Burnside and Pulaski County to see which team would earn the right to advance with them to the District Tournament.
The first inning was very dramatic. The Pulaski County All-Stars jumped out on top 3-0 with the help of RBIs by Justin Smith and Eric Jones. But Burnside was not backing down.
In the bottom of the first, Burnside loaded the bases with one out. Then pitcher Grant Gover coaxed a ground ball to third baseman Alex Walters who threw home to cut down the lead runner. It seemed Pulaski might get out of the jam. But that brought the Burnside third baseman, Alex Helton, to the plate. Helton turned a fastball around and lined a grand slam over the left center field fence to give the Burnside All-Stars a 4-3 lead after one inning. It was the first time Helton had left the yard all season.
Helton’s impressive feat deserves our attention without being lost in what came to follow: a one-sided hitting barrage that left Burnside and their fans stunned.
Over the next three innings the Pulaski County All-Stars pounded out 22 hits and scored an incredible 31 runs, on their way to a 34-4 win, giving them the right to advance to the District Tournament.
Sometimes when you have a score like this in Little League it’s because one team is just inferior and makes error after error, and their pitchers walk batters left and right. But that was not the case in this game. Pulaski County just beat the sawdust out of the baseball.
Leadoff hitter Blake Burton was perfect on the day. Burton was 6-6 scoring six runs and driving in seven. Kyle Payton also drove in seven runs while going 4-6. Eric Jones was also perfect at the plate going 4-4 with four RBIs and finishing off the scoring with a soaring home run that spent most of its flight on the other side of the outfield fence.
Christian Coots added four hits and four RBIs, Justin Smith had three hits and three RBIs, and Alex Walters added three hits.
On the mound, Blake Burton started the second inning and shut down Burnside on one hit the rest of the way while striking out five.
PC. 3 13 10 8 — 34 25 1
Burn. 4 0 0 0 — 4 2 9
Pulaski Co. — 2B—Burton 2, Payton 2, Jones 2, Coots 2, Smith, Walters. 3B—Burton, Smith. HR—Jones. SB—Payton 3, Jones 3, Burton, Smith, Walters, Johnson, Gover. RBI—Burton 7, Payton 7, Jones 4, Coots 4, Smith 3, Walters 2, Johnson.
Burnside — HR—Helton. RBI—Helton 4.
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Pulaski County All-Star Cody Johnson slides into third base during the Little League 11 & 12 year old all-star tournament at Science Hill Park. Steve Cornelius Photo
Pulaski All-Stars advance to District Tourney
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