Red Sox fall in Cup quarters|[08/06/07]
Published 12:00 am Monday, August 6, 2007
It was a bad day to be a top seed in the Governor’s Cup 10-year-olds’ bracket Sunday at Halls Ferry Park.
Both the A and B pool winners in the Vicksburg Red Sox and the West Monroe Warriors were pounded by the upstart Northeast Warhawks.
The Red Sox, who allowed just three runs in winning pool A, were roughed up for nine runs in the first inning. The Warhawks out of Rayville, La., hit three home runs in the inning to grab a 9-0 lead. They went on to post a 15-6 victory, the first of three on the day.
The Warhawks beat Laurel-Jones County 9-7, rallying in the fifth inning to win and then advanced to the finals, where they beat an archrival in the West Monroe Warriors, the pool B winners, 18-5.
Sunday’s loss concluded a long, but successful season for the Red Sox who finished the year with a 36-16 record.
“We had a good year and one thing we can say about our team is that they are all Vicksburg boys,” Red Sox coach Bo Magoun said. “Everybody we had played hard and I’m proud of the effort the kids gave. They (Northeast) just jumped on us early.”
Magoun hopes to keep the group together as they move up to the 11-year-olds division next season.
“That’s the plan. We’ve been together for the last three or four years,” Magoun said.
Warriors coach Todd Ridgeway is no stranger to the Governor’s Cup. For the past four years he’s coached the Southern Rebels, leading that team to back-to-back titles in the 16-year-olds’ division.
“I think this team (the Warriors) have just as much talent. I’m looking forward to bringing them through here all the way up the ranks again,” Ridgeway said.
“This is our first tournament of the summer. We play league all year and then bring a team over. We didn’t play as well during the pool but today we got a big first inning,” he said.
Chase Cockrell started the game off for the Warriors with a solo home run. After a hit, walk and a strikeout, Colby Etheridge blasted a two-run shot to make it 4-0.
Two more walks were enough for Magoun to lift Red Sox starter Drake Dorbeck. They brought in the team’s ace in Derek Dolan but he, too, had problems.
Brandon McGregor hit the third homer of the inning off Dolan to make it 7-0. Whatt Martin then capped the nine-run outburst with a two-run single.
The Red Sox got four runs back in their half of the first off three hits and three walks. Dolan got one of the RBIs when he took a pitch into his back.
A two-run double by Ethan Daily and two Red Sox errors chased home six more runs for the Warhawks in the second to make it 15-4.
The Red Sox got consecutive doubles from Emil Ellis and Zach Cox to account for the 15-6 final. The game was called after the second inning because of time.
Cockrell led the Warriors with two hits and two runs scored. McGregor drove in three. Cockrell also got the win, going an 1 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs.