Machine Pitch All-Stars win state title
By Lori Cathey
The North Gibson Machine Pitch All-Star baseball team recently went undefeated (4-0) in state tournament play to claim the title of Cal Ripken Machine Pitch Silver Division State Champs in Humboldt.
North Gibson All-Stars defeated Humboldt 10-0 in the opening round. Then the All-Stars played a hard fought extra-inning game to defeat Dyer County Nationals 5-4 the following morning in the second round. On July 1, the All-Stars played a very exciting game to get a 9-6 win over Milan to advance to the championship game. In the championship July 2, the North Gibson All-Stars defeated Dyer County Nationals 13-3.
NG All-Stars
vs. Humboldt
In the first inning, the All-Stars jumped out to a 4-0 lead with Grayson Walker, Knox McCurdy, J.P. Wofford and Lucas Pickard all scoring in the inning. In the fourth inning, Brodie Thomason, Chandler Abbott and Elijah Fletcher all reached base with Tripp Hays, Brox Renfroe, Walker, McCurdy, Wofford and Pickard all scoring runs to give North Gibson a 10-0 lead.
NG All-Stars vs.
Dyer Co. Nationals
The All-Stars scored a run in the bottom of the first inning. Grayson Walker scored the run with J.P. Wofford and Lucas Pickard both reaching base to give North Gibson a 1-0 lead.
Dyer County Nationals scored two runs in the top of the second inning and added a run in the third to take 3-1 lead.
NG All-Star Tripp Hays scored a run in the fifth inning to make it 3-2 DC Nationals.
In the top of the sixth inning, DC Nationals scored a run to extent their lead to 4-2. The All-Stars battled back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 4-all with Wofford and Pickard both scoring to force extra innings.
The NG All-Stars’ defense held DC Nationals scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings. NG All-Star Brox Renfroe and Lucas Pickard both singled to score Wofford for the winning run.
NG All-Stars vs. Milan
Milan jumped out to a 5-0 lead by scoring four runs in the top of the first inning, and adding a run in the second inning. The NG All-Stars scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning with Lucas Taylor, Chandler Abbott, Elijah Fletcher and Tripp Hays all scoring to make it 5-4 Milan. Milan scored another run in the top of the third inning to make it 6-4.
The All-Stars’ bats came alive in the bottom of the third inning, scoring five runs. Scoring for the All-Stars were Brodie Thomason, Lucas Pickard, C. Abbott, Fletcher, Taylor and Hays to give North Gibson a 9-6 lead.
NG All-Stars vs.
Dyer Co. Nationals
In the championship game, the North Gibson All- Stars team took on Dyer County Nationals for the second time in two days.
The Dyer County Nationals started the championship game off by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. The All-Stars answered by scoring six runs in the bottom of the inning.
Reaching base for the All-Stars were Grayson Walker, J.P. Wofford and Brox Renfroe and scoring were Lucas Pickard, Brodie Thomason, Elijah Fletcher, Lucas Taylor, Jaxon Abbott and Kade McDaniel to give North Gibson a 6-2 lead.
Both teams scored a run in the second inning, making it 7-3 North Gibson. Jaxon Abbott scored a run in the third inning to give North Gibson an 8-3 lead. In the fourth inning, Chandler Abbott, Pickard and Thomason all scored to defeat Dyer County Nationals 13-3 to become the Cal Ripken Machine Pitch Silver Division State Champs.
The North Gibson Machine Pitch All-Stars’ undefeated championship team members are Grayson Walker, Knox McCurdy, J.P. Wofford, Brox Renfroe, Lucas Pickard, Tripp Hays, Brodie Thomason, Chandler Abbott, Elijah Fletcher, Lucas Taylor, Jaxon Abbott and Kade McDaniel. Coaching the All-Stars were head coach Brian Renfroe with assistant coaches Josh Walker, Jeffery Hays and Chris McCurdy. North Gibson Machine Pitch All-Star Baseball team is made up of players from Dyer and Rutherford.
