Young team rebounds for 2 big wins
The Columbia 7u all-stars are only a couple wins away from clinching a berth in their state tournament after a good showing this past weekend.
Since there are only three 7u teams in the district (Columbia, St. Martin and Hattiesburg), they all opted to play in the 8u sub-district tournament in New Augusta Friday and Saturday.
Columbia 7u struggled to brave the wet conditions Friday night in a 16-14 loss to St. Martin but rebounded Saturday to beat Hattiesburg 21-5 and the only undefeated 8u team, Perry County, 7-6.
“The first game we played, I hope, as bad as we can possibly play. It rained a little bit and got the ball real wet. We had a lot of trouble throwing the wet ball defensively and made way too many unforced errors,” head coach Ryan Stringer said. “But Saturday we played much better and played outstanding defensively. We hit for the most part fairly well. We had some ups and downs offensively, but overall it was solid.”
The all-star team will play in its district tournament against St. Martin and Hattiesburg this weekend at Tatum Park in Hattiesburg with the top two teams advancing to the state tournament in Mendenhall beginning July 6. Its first game will begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Stringer understands what the 7u team needs to improve on moving forward.
“Defense is the name of the game in coach pitch. We need to work on some situational defense with getting the ball in front of the lead runner and making sure we keep our forces reemphasized,” he said. “That’s what we’ll do (this week) in practice.”
Columbia 7u team members include Bentley Blansett, Connor Bozeman, Jagger Earls, Brayden Gipson, Jaydon Johnson, Noah Jones, Tyler Manning, Max McDaniel, Carter Miller, Parker Russell, Cruz Stogner and Kamron Stringer and coaches Kevin Bozeman, Randell Stringer and Andrew Gipson.
Pictured Above: Columbia 7u’s Carter Miller strokes a base hit to the outfield during the team’s sub-district tournament Saturday in New Augusta. | Photo Submitted
