Coach Justin Parrigin and the Crossville 10U all-stars opened the Dixie Youth Baseball District tournament in Oliver Springs on fire. They picked two victories right out of the gate and played Tri-County in the semifinals Monday night at 7 p.m. CST.
“I thought we’ve played pretty well, so far,” said Parrigin. “Our pitching has really helped us out with this tournament.”
Crossville opened the tournament with a 13-2 victory over Rockwood, and then followed that up with an 11-8 win over Kingston.
“We pitched Donovan Byers against Rockwood and he did a good job,” Parrigin said. “Then we went with Grayson Norrod and followed him up with Jett Davis. Donovan has come a long way and did a good job in the game of throwing strikes. I am very confident with our pitching.”
Offensively, Crossville got some good production at the plate from Bentley Theet, Grayson Borning, Byer Thomson, Cole Flynn and Christian Brundage, who hit one off the wall in center field.
Parrigin said he was a little leery heading into the game with Kingston, but said he thought his players may have been the most focused for a game he’s seen the whole postseason.
“We pitched Christian Brundage against Kingston. He is probably our No. 1 pitcher,” the coach said. “He was stellar on the mound. We got out to a 6-0 lead and he was on a roll. We closed things out with Norrod and then Jett Davis.”
Kingston made a run late to cut the Crossville margin to the 11-8 final score. The game went six innings.
Some players that stepped up in the Kingston game include: Borning, Flynn, Easton Carrall, Norrod, Gannon Larance, Theet, Sawyer Hawn, Thomson and Rylan Kelly.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and we should be OK,” Parrigin said. “We’ve been hitting the ball well, we’re making phenomenal plays on defense.
“I think going forward, the games are going to be difficult. We need to keep doing what we’re doing because I think the guys are ready to go.”