Quality Mold earns right to face Cubs for 7-8 title

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Jordan Hillis of NHC brings down the tag too late to retire Dependable Brakes’ Merek McColloch at second base during their tournament game Monday night. (Rob Nunley photo)

Quality Mold advanced to the championship game in the 7-8 year-old coach-pitch tournament Monday night, picking up a victory over Dependable Brakes of Tennessee.

In Monday’s first game, Dependable Brakes used a seven-run first inning to pull ahead on its way to an 18-11 victory over National Health Care.

Trevor Young and Will Lupo had three hits each for NHC, while Nick Stern, Dustin Hale, David Jaco, John Haley and Dwight Woodlee had two apiece. Jordan Hillis, Cody Eldridge, Martin Grissom and Zach Lorentzen added a base knock each.

Dependable Brakes was led by Nate Grandey, who went 4-for-4, while Merek McColloch, Nick Tilton, Travis Smartt and Holden Carter all had three hits. Logan Bodnar, Tristan Reish, Hayden Carter and Mitchell Madewell had two each, while J.C. Dryden added one.

Dependable’s tourney run ended in Monday’s second game, however, as they fell to Quality Mold 17-8 in the losers’ bracket final.

Quality Mold, which took a 5-3 lead after the first inning and scored four runs in each of the next three frames, got two doubles each from Wesley Parkhurst and Chase Frye, while Frye, Eric Adamson and Dusty Ledbetter had three hits each in the winning effort.

Parkhurst, Tyler Judge, Cameron Shelton, Joshua Clark and Braydon Lewis had two hits apiece, while Gavin Laxson, Bailey Moore and Aaron Justice added one each.

Dependable Brakes got three hits each from Bodnar, Grandey and Tilton, while Reish had two and McColloch, Smartt, Holden Carter and Hayden Carter each had one.

Quality Mold was scheduled to face the undefeated Custom Tool and Die Cubs Tuesday night in the championship game. The Cubs sent Quality Mold to the losers’ bracket with a victory Saturday night.

Five tournament games were on the schedule Saturday, beginning with Stewart’s Farms and Stables rolling past Hoover and Son Insurance 20-10 in five innings.

Stewart’s scored five runs in the first, seven in the second, five in the third and three in the fourth. Hoover sent four runs to the plate in the first, three in the second, one in the third and two in the fifth.

For Stewart’s, Adrian Lusk, Keain Hildreth and Jack Davidson collected four hits each. Bradley Stewart, Grant Walker and Ethan Roberts had three hits each. Samuel Pack had two and Brenden Southard added one hit. For Hoover, Will Basham had four hits, Joshua Brown, Paul Cross, Garrett Jones and Zachary Williams had three hits each. Jonathan Walker and Tucker Garrison added two hits.

ABC Ice escaped with a 17-16 win over BLC. The two teams stayed tied through two innings at 10-10. But in the third ABC scored four runs as BLC sent just three runs across the plate. Both teams scored three in the fourth.

For ABC, Lucas Young, Carlos Villegas, Elijah Holder, Elijah Gilbert and Enrique Villegas had three hits each. Jack Sherill and Christian Cleland added two hits and Will Sweeton added one hit. For BLC, Mitch Owens, Briar Ward and Corey Richardson had four hits each. Skylar Thomas, Lucas Estes, and Jaben Bouldin had three hits each. Zachery Estes and Michael Johnson added two hits each.

Stewart’s Farms downed NHC 17-16. For Stewart’s, Walker, Hildreth and Ethan Roberts had four hits each. Stewart, Lusk, Davidson and Samuel Pack added three hits each. Brenden Southard and Travis Lockhart had two hits each. For NHC, Nick Stern and Trevor Young led the way with four hits each. Jordan Hillis had three hits, Cody Eldridge, Dustin Hale, Will Lupo and Dwight Woodlee added two hits each. John Haley and Martin Grissom had one hit each.

Dependable Brakes of Tennessee rolled past ABC Ice 19-2 in four innings. Travis Smartt led the way for Dependable Brakes with four hits. Nate Grandy, Merek McColloch, Nicholas Tilton, Holden Carter and Logan Bodnar had three hits each. Tristan Reish, Hayden Carter and Austin Cardin added two hits each. J.C. Dryden and Mitchell Madwell had one hit each. For ABC, Lucas Young had three hits, Sweeton, Carlos Villegas and Cleland had two hits each. Enrique Villegas and Elijah Holder added one hit each.

Custom Tool and Die closed out the night, keeping its perfect season going by downing Quality Mold 16-2 in four innings.

Quality scored its only two runs in the fourth inning. Custom Tool scored five runs in the first and second innings and six in the third. For Custom Tool, Dylan Tubb, Griffin Jones, Brock Watson and Ryan Diamond had three hits each. Brock Majors, Collin Smedley, Dylan Bond and Austin Spurling had two hits each. Mathew Burnett, Charlie King and Daniel McGee had one hit each. For Quality Mold, Braydon Lewis, Joshua Clark, Cameron Shelton, Eric Adamson and Tyler Judge had two hits each. Dusty Ledbetter, Chandler Laxson and Bailey Moore added one hit each.