July 18, 2016 - The Center Roughriders and Shelbyville Dragons 13-14 year old baseball teams each lost their tournament debuts at the Dixie League Elimination Tournament which started last Saturday at Center Roughrider Ballpark.
Center lost Saturday night in a six inning game which lasted nearly three hour and ended with the game being shortened by the ten-run-rule when Kilgore rallied for four runs to take a 15-5 win.
Kilgore had jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning and had ballooned their advantage to 10-3 by the end of the fourth frame. Center pulled to within 11-5 by the end of the sixth inning but Kilgore's rally enforced the Mercy-Rule. Center next plays the loser of Sunday's Huntington vs Sulphur Springs game in a 5:30 p.m. game to be played on Monday.
Shelbyville lost to Panola County earlier Saturday in a closer contest but they rebounded in a big way when they defeated the Hawkins Hawks in their second round game on Sunday. The Dragons beat the Hawks 12-0 to advance to play Hudson at 3 p.m. on Monday.
In the first inning of Sunday's game Shelbyville gained a 3-0 lead and extended it steadily with two more runs in each the third and fourth innings, which gave them a 7-0 advantage. The fourth inning was highlighted by a Colby Parker triple which careened off the center field wall. Teammate Cole Ferguson struck out the side in the fourth frame to set the Hawks down 1-2-3 in the inning. He then fielded a grounder to start the fifth stanza and then struck out the next two Hawks to retire the Hawks without a runner as well.
Scores by Zack Clark, Jaylon Brinson, Ferguson, Parker Sam Jones helped the Dragons employ the ten-run-mercy-rule to shorten the game by one inning.
Ten teams are competing in the 13-14 year old division. Besides Center, and Shelbyville, are Panola County, Kilgore, Hawkins, Huntington, Hudson, Sulphur Springs, Marshall and Henderson.
There is another 13 year old Dixie Elimination Tournament happening in Center at the same time which consists solely of teams from Henderson and Panola.
