South Pittsburg Baseball

[Southtowner]

Jasper 3 -1

SP over Jasper 4-3

[rlh]

SP over Jasper 4-3

Looks like we have Silver Bells up first. 

[Southtowner]

Looks like we have Silver Bells up first. 

yep and Jasper will go to the Swamp

[wingman10]

good win

[Southtowner]

Looks like we have Silver Bells up first. 

From the ChattTimes

 

 In the biggest game of his baseball career to date, Jesse Elledge was asked to do something he had never done in four years at South Pittsburg.

 

The Pirates' cleanup hitter came through in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, laying down a near-perfect bunt to squeeze home Tyler Reid for a 4-3 victory over rival Marion County in the District 6-A final.

 

"That was the first. (Coach Brian Paris) gave me the bunt sign the first pitch and I was like, 'Nah, that isn't (the sign) he meant to give,' so I went ahead and swung," Elledge said. "Then he gave it to me again and I thought, well, I thought I'd better lay down a bunt. I knew what I had to do."

 

For him the bunt was just as good as a home run or the sacrifice fly he got earlier in the game.

"Oh, yeah. Any way you can come away with a win was good for the team," he said.

Although Elledge had a career first, Paris wasn't surprised.

"The guy leads us in RBIs, but he's one of our best bunters. We put it on and he executed it perfectly. But I admit, my heart's still racing," the coach said moments after the game ended.

 

Both teams advance to Monday's Region 3-A semifinals. South Pittsburg will be at home for a 6 p.m. game against Silverdale Baptist while Marion County will travel to District 5-A winner Boyd-Buchanan to play at 5.

 

The Pirates took a first-inning lead when Reid walked, stole second and scored on Kitt Grider's double to left field.

The lead was short-lived, though. Marion scored a pair in the top of the second when Bryce Massengale singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Logan Walters' single to right. Walters then scored on an overthrow to third.

 

The Pirates' McKenna Blevins tied it in the sixth, reaching on a one-out single and coming around to score on an error.

Down 3-2 and facing do-or-die in the seventh, Marion's Jace Barton doubled and advanced to third on Jacob Saylors' sacrifice, and then his courtesy runner scored on Joseph Gibson's infield groundout to the right side to tie the game at 3 going into the bottom of the seventh.

 

South Pittsburg, which lost a tough one the night before to the Warriors, forcing the "if necessary" game, then won the game in its last at-bat. Reid managed a double off a ball that skipped out of the left fielder's glove and went to third on an infield grounder, setting the stage for Elledge's winning bunt.

 

Marion out-hit the Pirates 7-6. Each team stranded five baserunners, but Marion left a runner in scoring position in the first, fourth and sixth innings.

"We didn't have enough timely hits," Marion coach Scott Barton said. "But my hat's off to (South Pittsburg). (Jess) Morrison pitched a heck of a game for them. He hit his spots and kept us off-balance."

 

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

[wingman10]

Congrats to Boyd on the w. Good season for Marion Co

[wingman10]

tough one to lose