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8U Braves District Champs

By Jennifer Rogers, 06/26/14, 2:45PM EDT

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The 8U Braves (15-3 so far this summer) extended their winning streak to 9 straight with their undefeated run in the 2014 Georgia Dizzy Dean District 4 Tournament.   This is the largest 8U district in Georgia Dizzy Dean, and the winning bracket can be viewed at:  http://dizzydeanga.org/14_D4_8_bracket.htm

 

In Wednesday night's Championship game (6/25) the Braves rallied for a come-from-behind 9-6 victory over the NYO Longhorns (“A” team) to take the district title.  The Braves had knocked Longhorns down to the double elimination 1-loss bracket with Buckhead’s 11-4 victory in their opening tourney game nearly a week earlier (Thurs. 6/19).  The Longhorns  started  the Championship game fast with 5 runs in the 1st inning, but the Braves outscored their neighbors 9-1 the rest of the way with shutdown defense and a late game offensive charge.  The top of the third inning saw the Braves sparked by three straight singles --  Manny Pargman’s scorcher to left, Zach Hanson’s line hugging bunt and Walker Williams’s line shot to center driving in Pargman and Hanson.  Nick McCarthy added a line drive to left to score Williams and cut the score to 5-3.   Although NYO answered with a run to make it 6-3, third basemen Jack Landers snagged several line drives to keep the momentum going the Braves way.  In the 4th Inning Landers led off with a hard single to center, followed by a Zach Posel line drive single to left and Michael Mitchell legging out a bunt single. With bases loaded, Pargman and Hanson each collected RBI singles to pull within a run at 6-5.   The Longhorns went 1-2-3 in the bottom of 4 with a nice pop catch behind the plate by Sam Neal and two nice Landers's plays on grounders.   Gibson Thompson opened the 5th inning with a double to left and was pushed to third on Harrison Gough's sac bunt.  Henry Levenson hammered a single to left to plate Thompson and tie the game.  Three straight line drive singles by Neal, Landers and Posel drove home three more for a 9-6 lead with 6 tough outs to go.  The Longhorns quickly fired back with hard hits that put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but Landers delivered a grounder to Braves’ catcher Neal who dropped the tag in front of the plate for the 2nd out of the fifth.  With the ‘Horns continuing to battle and loading the bases with 2 outs, Hanson fielded a hard grounder at short and tossed to Levenson for the force at 2B and maintain the Braves’ 3-run lead.  The 9-6 final score held through the final frame as Hanson made a nice diving catch and doubled-off the Longhorn runner straying from 1B to claim the District Championship.  In a show of excellent sportsmanship, the players, families and fans from both teams joined for congratulatory words from both head coaches and pictures with both teams and the trophy hardware.

 

In addition to the two wins against NYO, the Braves played strong in tournament victories over the DHYS (Druid Hills) Red Devils, Sandy Springs Storm and AYBA (Alpharetta) Eagles (all “A” teams).  In the Braves second tourney game on Saturday (6/21), the Braves' red hot offense (21 hits) powered the boys to a 16-1 win over the Red Devils.  Landers, Posel, Pargman (2 RBIs) and Thompson (3 RBIs) all hit in-the-park homers to the wall, and Mitchell (who went 3-3 with a triple) and Gough each added 2 RBIs.  McCarthy was also perfect at the plate going 3-3.  The near shut-out defense added double plays by Posel firing a left-center catch back to Pargman at first before the runner could get back and Hanson (SS)-Levenson (2B)-Pargman (1B)  teaming on the nice  "6-4-3” ground ball.  A close game with the Storm immediately followed on Saturday, which the Braves pulled out 8-4.  After trailing 1-0 into the bottom of the third, a double by Hanson, singles by Williams and Thompson, and Levenson’s 2-RBI, 2-Out single up the middle had the Braves on top 3-1.  The Braves added 3 more in the 4th on Pargman's, Hanson's and Williams's consecutive RBIs, and then two more in the 5th on a Landers 2-out, 2-RBI double.  Landers and Neal were both 3 for 3 at the plate against the Storm, and Buckhead’s stingy defense held Sandy Springs in check to close out the win.  The AYBA Eagles, who the Braves fell to 11-1 in their first tourney several weeks ago, were next up in the semi-finals of the undefeated bracket on Sunday (6/22).  The Eagles grabbed an early 2-0 lead.  At the top of the third inning  the Braves bats awoke for the 7-run maximum (and a 7-2 lead).  Thompson ignited the team with a triple that scored Williams.  McCarthy followed with a sac-fly to CF to tie the game, and Gough, Levenson, Neal, Landers, Posel and Mitchell all singled to plate 5 more during the 2-out rally.  The Eagles quickly responded in the bottom inning with 3 runs to cut the Braves’ lead to 7-5.   After a big 2-out, 2-RBI by McCarthy in the top of the 4th, the Eagles again scored three and, despite Pargman's terrific diving play on the 1B line to rob extra bases, the Braves' lead was down to 9-8.   Neal grabbed the momentum back with a crushing double to RF that scored Levenson (who had just doubled).  Landers followed with a sac fly to score Neal, and consecutive hits (Posel double, Mitchell single, Pargman triple) pushed the lead back up to 13-8.  But AYBA again answered back with 3 more runs and the Braves entered the final sixth inning with a slim 13-11 lead.  After 2 outs and runners at first and second, Landers smoked a line-drive triple to the CF gap and gave the Braves a 15-11 edge and needing to get the last 3 outs.  The Braves infield was up to the challenge with several nice plays that secured the win and sent the undefeated Braves on to their Championship game.  

 

This great group have become terrific friends and developed excellent chemistry as they now look forward to the 8U Georgia Dizzy Dean State Championship beginning July 4th.  Congratulations and good luck boys!!