SOUTH SHORE —
Russell-Flatwoods coach Jim Moore is 46 years old. After Tuesday’s game he feels more like he’s 52.
That’s because after making a late-inning comeback, Russell-Flatwoods was able to hold off a bases-loaded Fleming County rally to win the Little League 9-10 District 6 championship on Tuesday night at Stan Spence Field.
“You’ll see a few more gray hairs tomorrow,” Moore said.
Russell-Flatwoods struggled for most of the game against Fleming County starter Dylan Marshall.
Marshall allowed no hits through five innings and had Fleming County up 3-0. But he had to be taken out in the middle of the fifth when he reached the little league pitching limit.
As soon as Marshall left, Russell-Flatwoods pounced on Fleming County relievers.
“His delivery was something we haven’t seen in awhile,” Moore said of Marshall’s sidearm pitching motion. “We were just hanging in there and we knew we could get to him, but he would reach his pitch limit.”
After the first two batters walked, Russell-Flatwoods scored on a Grant Wilburn groundout followed by a passed ball that allowed another run to score.
Another walk and another passed ball got a runner in scoring position for Jacob Thompson, who drove in the tying run with Russell-Flatwoods’ first hit of the game.
There would be another walk, followed by another passed ball and then a Malakai Anderson groundout that led to two more runs.
“Our boys have been hitting all week and quite honestly I thought we would score more,” Moore said. “And we started moving around the bases a little bit and that shook them up a bit.”
Leading 5-3 heading into the top of the sixth, Russell-Flatwoods sent nine-year old Logan Harrison to the mound to close it out.
After getting the first batter to strike out, Harrison walked the next two batters. Moore then summoned 10-year old Ken Gomez to the mound.
“All of our boys have pitched well and Logan was pitching well,” Moore said. “But we didn’t want to waste any time, so we brought in Ken who can throw strikes.”
Gomez walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, then forced a pop out to the catcher Anderson, who made a great play getting out of the catcher’s box to give Russell-Flatwoods two outs.
Gomez gave Russell-Flatwoods the District 6 title with a strikeout.
“There was nothing prettier than that,” Moore said.
The Russell-Flatwoods team will move to the state tournament for a first-round game July 20 at Prestonsburg.
But with a team of five 9-year olds and five 10-year olds, Moore’s strategy for state has become simple.
“We’re just going to have fun,” he said with a smile. “These kids are having a blast. They don’t know they’re down, they don’t know anything. They’re just having fun.”
FLEMING CO. 100 200 — 3 3 0
R-FLATWOODS 000 05X — 5 2 1
D.Marshall, Maher (5), Stephens (5) and Applegate. Wilburn, Harrison (4) Gomez (5) and Campbell, Anderson (4). 2B — McKibbon (FC).
KYLE HOBSTETTER can be reached at khobstetter@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2658.
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