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2 local all-star teams advance to final 4

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All three Albany Little League All-Star teams played several rounds deep in the District 5 tournament last week, with two of the squads advancing to the final four.

The 12U team made it to the semifinal round in the winners bracket before suffering their first loss to Wylie, 5-4, last Thursday. Wylie moved on to win their division of the tournament.

“We played really well and had a one-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth,” manager Kevin Hill said. “We made some errors on base paths that gave them a couple of outs they didn’t earn.”

Ashton Bailey was the starting pitcher in the game, with Cade Price coming in as relief.

“We made the decision to go the rest of the game with Cade,” the manager said. “He threw well with a lot of velocity and control. We walked a few, which hurt us, but Cade struck out seven batters.”

Zane Waggoner and Price led at the plate with two RBIs each.

“I was really proud of how the boys played,” Hill said. “It is never easy to play over there.”

The 12U team was eliminated on Friday with a 6-2 loss to Dixie in the losers bracket.

“Cole Read pitched five strong innings for us,” the manager said. “Cole’s curve ball worked well for him, and he was able to keep Dixie’s hitters off balance for the most part.”

Hill said it was one of those games where Dixie’s hits found the holes and Albany’s didn’t.

“We had several big hits, but the ball went right to them,” Hill said. “Dixie’s hits were well placed, which put a lot of pressure on our defense.”

The coach commended the defensive efforts of the team, especially Adam Hill at short stop and Lute Wheeler at second base.

Price and Wheeler led the offense with two RBIs apiece.

Houston Heatly came in to relieve Read on the mound.

“Houston had the tough job of catching most of the game, then getting moved to the pitcher’s mound,” Hill said. “He threw really well, striking out all three batters he faced.”

He said that he was very proud of how the team competed in the tournament.

“If you look at the final four teams, we were the only one from a small town,” he said. “I’m not sure how many kids Wylie, Dixie, and Snyder had to pick a team from, but I know how few we had. The same goes for the 10U and 11U teams, which shows the level of talent our kids possess.”

Hill thanked his coaches, Tony Wheeler and Justin Read.

“Tony took care of the pitching staff and all the credit goes to him for the strength and consistency the guys threw with,” Hill said. “He made some great decisions on how to use the pitching staff, which enabled us to go deep into the tournament.”

He said that Read helped with all aspects of the game.

“Justin and Tony coached most of these guys in travel ball and the regular season, so they really knew what the players were capable of in different situations,” Hill said.

Hill also thanked the team parents for their support.

11U Falls to Wylie

The 11U all-stars lost both of their tournament games to Wylie last week, but picked up a pair of wins in between. They opened bracket play on June 25 with a win over Jim Ned.

Albany suffered a 12-1 loss to Wylie on June 26 in the second round.

“Obviously we didn’t play as well as we needed to,” manager John Tom Heatly said. “We got a little stage fright and got behind early in the game.”

The team hosted Eastland in the losers bracket, winning 18-1 on June 27.

“I was really proud of the kids,” Heatly said. “They stayed very disciplined at the plate.”

Huffman Heatly led the team on offense with five RBIs on a single and and an in-the-park home run.

Calhan Fairchild and Woods Peterson had four hits each, along with multiple hits from Mason McCloy. Cade Fairchild and Gatlin Wills both hit runs in for the team.

Laithe Leech went five innings on the mound, giving up one run on two hits. He struck out seven Eastland batters.

“The guys all played well, but the thing I was the most proud of was not committing any errors on defense,” Heatly said.

Albany won a rematch against Breckenridge, 4-1, on Thursday, June 28, having lost to the team in pool play the week before.

“We faced their ace pitcher like we did the week before, but we were able to get nine hits off of him,” Heatly said. “I’m really proud of the way the boys bounced back.”

Huffman Heatly pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up one run on one hit during his 88 throws from the mound. He struck out six batters.

Calhan Fairchild led at the plate with three hits, followed by Huffman Heatly and Will LeMay with two each.

“I also want to commend Brandon Balliew for making a huge catch for us in left field at a key point in the game,” the manager said.

Heatly said that the Breckenridge coach complimented the Albany team for the way they conducted themselves in the game.

Albany was eliminated with a second loss to Wylie, 10-4, last Friday in the losers bracket final.

“The kids really competed well against Wylie, who moved on to the championship game,” Heatly said. “We led 3-0 after the first inning and we were tied 4-4 in the fourth, but errors caught up with us at the end of the game.”

Cade Fairchild went 3 for 3 at the plate to lead the hitting.

Calhan Fairchild pitched three and a third innings before running out of pitches. Will LeMay came in to finish at the mound.

“Both of our pitchers performed well under pressure,” Heatly said. “It was really a lot closer game than the final score indicates. Our kids showed the passion they have and never gave up.”

Albany ended up with Wylie and Dixie as the last three teams still playing.

10U Finishes Wednesday

The 10U team suffered back-to-back losses on June 26 and 27 to be eliminated from the tournament after picking up two straight victories.

Albany suffered the first loss to Snyder, 23-20, last Tuesday.

“Both teams hit the ball well and we pitched everyone we had,” manager Gary Vickers said. “We were down by 10 going into the last inning, but were able to score seven runs and had the tying run at bat when it ended. The kids never gave up.”

Albany lost to Jim Ned 18-1 on Wednesday, June 27 to end their appearance.

“It was 10-1 after the first inning, but we were just out of gas after a late game the night before and fell apart,” said Vickers.

The coach said he was very proud of the way the team competed throughout the tournament.

This was the first time Albany entered three divisions, with all three advancing deep in bracket play.

Assisting manager Kevin Hill on the 12U team are coaches Tony Wheeler, Justin Read, and Don Taggart.

Members of the 12U team include Houston Heatly, Ayden Balliew, Lute Wheeler, Cole Read, Ashton Bailey, Adam Hill, Caden Price, Tyler Chapman, Cort Peterson, Zane Waggoner, Brayden Watson, Dalton Richards (alt), and Jayden Lucas (alt).

The 11U all-stars are managed by John Tom Heatly, with coaches David Fairchild and John Peterson.

Members of the team are Huffman Heatly, Cade Fair-child, Calhan Fair-child, Shawn Keen, Will LeMay, Gatlin Wills, Mason McCloy, Woods Peterson, Ty Richards, Laithe Leech, Landon Balliew, Caroline Chapman (alt), and Jake Hale (alt).

Gary Vickers is managing the 10U team, with coaches Anthony Ceder, Chris Edgar, and Clayton Oliver assisting.

Those named to the team were Wesley Gleitz, Aiden Vickers, Clay Chapman, Lyle Wheeler, Brody Oliver, Jackson Shack, Sam Vickers, Colter Edgar, Zarek Bell, Graham Ceder, Connor Smith, Ace Vickers (alt), and Bennett Neece (alt).