MURFREESBORO -- The Greeneville American 11-12 year-old Little League All-Star team was eliminated from the state tournament Monday night by Columbia 7-6.
Greeneville fell into a 4-0 hole giving up a single run in the first and second innings and then two runs in the third.
Greeneville responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the third. The rally began with one out when Zane Potter hit a hard line drive that the Columbia second baseman could not handle. Caden Ramsey then hit a hard ground ball to third but an errant throw allowed Potter to go to third and Ramsey ended up on second.
Brennan Kimrey lined the next pitch to center field to score Potter. Matthew Page also hit the first pitch he saw and the result was an RBI single to right. With two outs, James Duer singled to load the bases. Meshach Parmen then worked a walk that forced Kimrey across the plate for the third run of the inning.
Caden Ramsey pitched around an error and a hit in the fourth inning to hold the score at 4-3. In the bottom of the frame, Ramsey helped his cause, hitting a scorching line drive that easily cleared the left field fence 200 feet from home plate. His home run gave Greeneville a 5-4 lead, scoring Zane Potter who was on second following a double.
Ramsey's defense let him down in the fifth. Back to back errors to start the inning resulted in runners on the corners with no one out. The runner at first stole second and then both runners scored on an RBI single to center which allowed Columbia to reclaim the lead 6-5.
Greeneville tied the game with a two out rally in the bottom half of the fifth. Meshach Parman reached on a single and later moved to second on a wild pitch. Dalton McLain plated Parman with a single to center. Parman was stopped short of home but the catcher had dropped the throw, so Parman was able to scramble to the plate before the tag was applied.
The definitive run in the game came in the top of the sixth when the first batter in the inning launched a ball over the fence for a solo home run. Ramsey rebounded to retire the next three batters in order.
Greeneville threatened in the bottom half of the sixth after Ramsey was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a ground out by Kimrey. However, he would be stranded at second as the last out was made.
Ramsey was the losing pitcher of record despite only giving up one earned run and striking out seven in 3 1/3 innings pitched. At the plate, Greeneville was paced by two hit performances by Potter, McLain and Duer.
Each of the losses suffered in the double elimination tournament was by a single run.
15-16 STARS
Greeneville's 15-16 stars remained alive in the state tournament in Clarksville by taking a 12-5 win over Smith County on Monday.
They will play again tonight in the event.
The local team lost 5-3 to Maryville on Monday.
The locals scored first in the top of the second after Alex Gregory connected on a two-out double and scored on an RBI single by Logan Tweed.
After Maryville went up 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Greeneville tied it in the top of the sixth when Troy Hall walked and later scored on a single by Ben Gridley.
Maryville took command in the bottom of the sixth by scoring three times.
Greeneville got the tying runs on base in the seventh. Seth Riddle and Brett Bolton reached on errors. Troy Hall's base hit scored Riddle to close the gap to 5-3, but Maryville was able to retire the side without any more damage.
