Bartow County Junior Little League (14U) wins second straight at state tourney
PHOTO: Bartow County Junior Little League (14U) first baseman Wade Dooley takes a cut at a pitch in Tuesday night's state tournament game at East Athens Little League. -- Photo courtesy East Athens Little League
Bartow County Junior Little League (14U) survived a second straight elimination game and satisfied a measure of revenge Tuesday night in Athens with a 7-4 win in the Georgia Junior Little state tournament over West Point Junior Little League.
Bartow, now 2-1 in the double-elimination tournament, suffered an opening round 5-1 loss to West Point last Saturday but has now bounced back in the losers’ bracket to eliminate host Athens and West Point.
The victory advances Bartow to the final three teams in the double-elimination tournament. The locals will need three more wins to win the state title.
West Point took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning Tuesday night before Bartow erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third. The two teams then matched runs down the stretch with Bartow adding single runs in the fourth and sixth innings. West Point scored a run in the sixth and one more in the seventh.
The two teams matched one another with six hits each.
Patrick Shelley paced Bartow with three hits and scored three times. Brice Craig contributed a pair of hits, a walk, and scored a run. Colton Wilson added the other Bartow hit, walked, and scored one run. Devin Pryor and Eli Agnew both walked and scored a run in Bartow’s eventful third inning.
Bartow will play Vine Ingle Junior Little League (1-1) Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in another elimination game. The winner will advance to the championship round against unbeaten Elbert County. Elbert (2-0) routed Vine Ingle Tuesday night, 17-1.
Georgia Junior Little League State Tournament schedule/results:
Double-elimination at East Athens Little League
Sat. July 14 — West Point 5, Bartow County 1
Sat. July 14 — Athens 16, Northern-Columbus 12
Sun. July 15 — Vine Ingle 12, West Point 6
Sun. July 15 — Elbert County 11, Athens 0
Mon. July 16 — Bartow County 10, Athens 4 (Athens eliminated)
Mon. July 16 — West Point 17, Northern-Columbus 1 (Northern eliminated)
Tue. July 17 — Elbert Co. 17, Vine Ingle 1
Tue. July 17 — Bartow County 7, West Point 4 (West Point eliminated) GM 9 — Wed. July 18 — 6 pm — Vine Ingle vs. Bartow County (elimination game)
GM 10 — Thr. July 19 — 6 pm — Elbert Co. vs. Winner Gm 9 (championship round)
GM 11 — Thr. July 19 — 8 pm — Winner Gm 10 vs. Loser Gm 10 (if needed)
Georgia champion advances to the Junior Little League Baseball Southeast Regional that begins August 2 in Fort Myers, FL
Results for Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League provided by the respective leagues and Georgia Little League Baseball and Softball. Bartow County Recreation Department and Cartersville Recreation Department baseball and softball teams participating in Georgia Recreation and Parks Association are reported to Bartow Sports Zone by the respective recreation departments and presented on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.
