PRESTONSBURG —
When the Russell-Flatwoods 11-12 year-old All-Star baseball team began practicing about a month ago, it seemed as if luck was its greatest opponent.
One player suffered a broken pinkie, and then another broke his arm.
“The All-Star season did not start off good,” said R-F manager Brent Blevins, managing to laugh about it now.
Currently, two games sit between Russell-Flatwoods and a state title.
Jaeden Layne recovered from his broken pinkie, and Kyle Blevins is just now starting to play again as his arm continues to fully heal.
Winning has been the best medicine, as District 6 champion Russell-Flatwoods went 2-1 in State Tournament pool play over the weekend in Prestonsburg. The local All-Stars punched a ticket into the final four by taking the tiebreaker. It came down to a head-to-head matchup between Valley Sports (Louisville) and Russell, which Russell had won on Sunday.
Russell-Flatwoods begins single-elimination semifinal play on Wednesday night at 8 in Prestonsburg. Its opponent had not yet been determined as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The kids are very excited,” Blevins said. “It’s been pretty much a team effort. Everybody’s been hitting well, and almost everybody can pitch.”
Russell-Flatwoods have relied upon pitching and power to dig out of an 0-1 hole in pool play — Russell lost to Warren South, 11-1, on Saturday.
The team rebounded to beat Valley Sports, 8-4, on Sunday. Layne enjoyed a solid pitching outing in that contest.
Casey Hensley, Chaz Whitt, Wes Patterson and Nathan Brinkman combined to lead the pitching in a 10-8 defeat of Paintsville on Monday. The game started off on a wild note, as each team plated six runs in the first inning. Russell-Flatwoods controlled the contest from that point forward, though, narrowly clinging to a constant advantage after scoring another in the second.
Russell-Flatwoods has cranked four total home runs in the three games in Prestonsburg, each by different players — Seth Adkins, Cameron Floyd, Grant Bates and Whitt each went deep.
“Just about every one of our players has hit home runs over the All-Star season, which makes it nice because you just never know,” Blevins said.
Blevins likes his team’s attitude — “They’re confident, but not overconfident” — and he said they are winning because “they’re just having fun playing baseball.”
AARON SNYDER can be reached at asnyder@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2664.
Local Sports
R-F baseball in state final four
Russell-Flatwoods 11-12 All-Stars relying on pitching, power
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