2007 Governor’s Cup: Gators breeze through pool play|[07/29/07]
Published 12:00 am Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Vicksburg Gators have found a winning formula at the Governor’s Cup.
When the other team hits, they hit a little more. When the opponent pushes, they push back. And, in the end, they win.
C.J. Ross went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, Michael Rohrer and Alex Thomas each drove in two runs, and the Gators scored in every inning of a 12-5 win over the Madison Spikes in the 11-year-olds’ quarterfinals at Halls Ferry Park.
The win sends the Gators into today’s semifinals against the Meridian Junior Eagles at noon on the Delta Field. The championship game is at 3 p.m. on the Bluff Field.
“We’re taking care of business. Any one of these teams can beat anybody else, but we have as good a shot as anybody if we keep doing what we’re doing,” Gators coach Matt Rohrer said. “The key is going to be our attack, our offense, and not making any mistakes.”
The Gators have scored nine, 10 and 12 runs in their three Cup games, and won their pool with a hard-fought 10-6 win over the Madison Bandits on Saturday afternoon.
In that game, the Gators wasted an early 5-0 lead and allowed the Bandits to twice get within a run. Vicksburg scored twice in the third and three times in the fourth, though, to survive. Ross and Josh Sterling each had RBI singles in the win over the Bandits.
The game against the Spikes followed a similar pattern.
The Spikes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Vicksburg rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning. Ross’ RBI single was the only hit during the rally. A walk, a hit batsman, an error, and a host of wild pitches and stolen bases helped the Gators move their runners around.
Madison cut it to 4-3 with an unearned run in the top of the second, then Vicksburg put the game away with four more runs in the bottom of the inning. An RBI single by Thomas and an RBI double by Hunter Bell keyed the big inning.
Madison scored single runs in the third and fourth innings, including one on an RBI single by Jacob McGraw, but never could get the big hit that would have ignited a comeback.
“It was one of those games where everything we hit seemed to be hit right at them, and everything they hit seemed to find a hole,” said Spikes coach Mark Alexander, whose team went 0-3 in the Governor’s Cup with two one-run losses. “That’s just the way baseball is.
“But the kids battled hard and played well, and we’re real proud of them.”