The Leanna Cardinals fought not only the scathing heat last weekend, but it had to win two games on the same day to become Rutherford County TYBA Champions.
The Cardinals, made up of players that were 9 & 10 years old, only lost two games during the regular season to Lascassas and Christiana. It order to win the title, the Cardinals had to beat them on the same day. Thanks to two thrilling games and great pitching, Leanna pulled it off.
On Friday night, Leanna knocked off Christiana 5-4, but that was a precursor to what was to come the next day.
Coming into Saturday, the Cardinals knew it had to win twice on a day that it felt like 100 degrees outside. The coaches had its players drink plenty of water, and even the parents helped keep the youngsters cool by bringing wet towels.
The first win came in pitchers duel with the same Comets, that it had beat on the previous evening. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Blake Malone crushed a pitch that was six inches short of going over the wall, but he was able to stretch out a triple.
The following batter, Lane Rhinehart had the game winning hit that scored Malone.
Now, Leanna was in the championship game against a Lascassas Rockets team that was trying to pull off a perfect season. During the break in between games, head coach Anthony Malone told his team to get away from the field. Malone, a 20-year veteran youth baseball coach, even took some of the players to his house, which was about half a mile away to get out of the heat for a short time.
With a 3:30 p.m. first pitch, the Cardinals, however, jumped out to a 6-2 lead and never looked back for a 6-3 victory that gave Leanna the title.
“We worked hard all year for this,” head coach Anthony Malone said. “It finally came through for us.”
For most of the players, the season is over. Some of them however are preparing for next season, which includes moving up an age division, or even trying out for their respective middle school teams. |
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