All-stars take third at state tournament

The Warren County all-stars took third place at the 10-year-old state tournament, held recently in Martin, Tenn.

After falling into the losers’ bracket with a loss to the Nashville Heat in their second game of the tournament, Warren County battled its way all the way to the losers’ bracket finals, but came up short in a rematch with the Heat, ending their tourney run with a 7-1 loss.

Warren County came out strong in their opening game, downing the Brentwood Bullets 13-0 thanks to four runs in each of the first two innings and a five-run third.

Tyler Gilley went 2-for-2 with three runs, and picked up the win on the pitcher’s mound. Matthew Tidenburg was 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while Brett Patterson had two hits and two runs and Patrick Harvey scored three runs.

The following day, the all-stars met up with the heat, falling 4-1. Warren County’s only run came in the fifth, when an RBI by Patterson drove in Mark Harvey.

Patrick Harvey, Mark Harvey, Patterson, Tidenburg and Andrew Sims all had a hit apiece in the loss.

The team bounced back from that setback the next day, downing Greenfield 12-2. Warren County took a 4-0 lead in the first, then scored seven runs in the third to put the game out of Greenfield’s reach. Back-to-back doubles from Mark Harvey and Tyler Gilley, both of whom finished 3-for-4, got things started in the big inning.

Patrick Harvey reached base all four times he came to bat, while Tidenburg and Sims had two hits each and Dakota Taylor added one.

Warren County went on to oust Brentwood from the tournament, winning 6-3.

After falling behind 2-0 early, the all-stars scored al six of their runs in the third inning, a frame highlighted by a grand slam from Gilley.

Gilley’s blast was one of just four Warren County hits, as Taylor added two and Mark Harvey had one. The all-stars also benefited from 6 walks and a pair of Brentwood errors.

In their last game, the finals of the losers’ bracket, the all-stars’ only run came in the fourth inning, when Mark Harvey hit a leadoff double and scored on a single from Gilley. The Nashville Heat countered with four runs in the second, two more in the third and another in the fourth.

Patrick Harvey, Patterson, Mark Harvey, Gilley and Tidenburg had a hit each in the team’s final contest.