Cartersville Little League 10U advances at Tournament of State Champions
The Cartersville Little League 10U team defeated Goodlettsville (TN) Little League 8-3 Monday afternoon to clinch a spot in the 10U Tournament of State Champions single-elimination bracket that begins Tuesday at Elm Street Park in Greenville, NC.
Cartersville, the Georgia state champions, finished 2-1 in pool play. The Canes lost their opener in the tournament to Northwood Little League of Taylors, SC, but defeated South Durham (NC) Little League in extra innings Sunday night and Goodlettsville to advance.
Teams with winning records in pool play will be seeded for the championship bracket. The bracket will include four to six teams depending on the remainder of Monday’s pool games. The 10U state champions from the eight states of Little League’s Southeast Region are represented in the event.
In Monday’s win, Caleb Daniel tossed a complete game for Cartersville scattering six hits and a walk while notching four strikeouts. He needed only 67 pitches to complete the six innings of work and threw first pitch strikes to 18 of the 24 batters faced.
Cartersville fell behind 1-0 in the top of the third inning, but responded with a pair of runs that gave the Canes a lead they would not relinquish.
Nick Hruby walked to get the inning started and after Turner Abernathy entered to run for Hruby, Hayden James lined a single into left field to put runners on the corners. Daniel bounced out to shortstop to score Abernathy and James crossed the plate to give Cartersville a 2-1 lead when Miles Owen reached on an infield error.
Cartersville extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
Gavin Shrewsbury was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second base on a single by Joseph Womack. An RBI single by Hruby scored Shrewsbury, but Hruby was put out at second trying to advance an extra base. James and Daniel followed with RBI singles and Cartersville went ahead 6-1 when Owen reached on another infield miscue.
Cartersville scored two more runs in the fifth to take an 8-1 advantage. Singles by Connor Brasfield, Abernathy, and Hruby accounted for the runs.
Goodlettsville managed a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning on three straight hits, but Daniel closed out the game with a groundout and a pair of infield line outs that sealed the victory.
Hruby (2 RBI), James (RBI), and Daniel (RBI), had two hits each for Cartersville. Abernathy (RBI), Brasfield, Shrewsbury, and Womack added one hit each. Owen contributed one RBI and stole a base.
The 10U Canes await the announcement of their first opponent in the championship bracket. Single-elimination play begins at 10am Tuesday morning. The tournament will conclude with a championship game Wednesday at 11am.
