By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle American scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fielder’s choice by Garrett Wade to beat Decatur American Blue 2-1 to stay unbeaten in Dixie 7-8 sub-district play Monday night.
The Hartselle all-stars struggled to score runs after posting 16 runs in a win last Friday in the team’s opening game of the tournament.
J.P. Speegle scored from third after hitting a leadoff single for Hartselle in the inning. He moved on to third on a throwing error on a hard grounder by Braxton Peck to set up the winning run.
Decatur American scored the game’s first run in the top of the third inning with just one hit.
With hits from Wade and Houston Wright in the fourth inning, Hartselle threatened, but Decatur got out of the inning with a force out.
Hartselle tied the game when Derreck Bunn had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning. Blake Shelton and Mac Meyer also had hits for Hartselle in the inning.
Hartselle was scheduled to finish up the five-team round-robin tournament with games against Morgan American West Tuesday and Athens American Wednesday.
All teams in the sub-district tournament at Sparkman Park will advance to the district tournament.
Hartselle 16, Decatur Nationals 2
Hartselle opened the tournament with an offensive barrage, scoring 16 runs on 17 hits.
Houston Wright went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double, triple and three runs to lead Hartselle.
Garrett Wade added three hits and scored four runs, while Connor Burks had three hits and three runs.
Jackson Terry finished with two hits, while Blake Shelton, Nickalos Williams, Garrett Sexton, J.P. Speegle and Braxton Peck all added one hit each.