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Local All-Stars still playing at press time

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By Sam Waller

One Albany Little League All-Star team had its run in the District 5 tournament come to an end this week, with a second still playing and a third just getting started.

Albany’s Major All-Stars survived one elimination game before falling to Wylie on Monday.

The Minor All-Stars are among the final six teams in its division after taking their first loss on Monday.

The Intermediate team, which combines players from Albany and Breckenridge, began play Tuesday, June 21. Results will be reported next week.

Major All-Stars

Albany won two games before bowing out of the double-elimination tournament.

“With no more numbers than we have in Albany Little League, we were pretty successful,” Majors coach Tony Wheeler said. “We only had four 12-year-olds on the All-Star team, so it was a pretty young bunch. Most of them were 11-year-olds, and we had one 10-year-old.”

Albany opened the tournament Friday, June 17 with a 14-10 victory over Clyde at Breckenridge. Ace Townson got the pitching win with Levi Murphy and Trevor Bellah working in relief. Blake Britting and Lyle Wheeler were leading hitters.

On Saturday, June 18, Albany lost 19-12 to Cisco at Albany. The visitors took advantage of defensive miscues to get two big innings while being held scoreless in four frames.

On Sunday, June 19, Albany defeated Abilene Southern 8-4 at Clyde. Tank Johnson hit a grand slam that was the difference in the score. Wheeler was the winning pitcher, striking out nine, with Bellah recording six outs on just 19 pitches in relief.

The run came to an end with a 12-2 loss to Abilene Northern, which started fast with a six-run first inning at Abilene’s Cal Young Park.

Other team members were Slayton Parsons, Jakobi Roberson, McCoy Vaughn, and Sam Tidwell.

Minor All-Stars

Albany was one of two teams that won Friday to also win Saturday against an opponent who had a bye. The Minor All-Stars opened with a 16-10 win over Breckenridge at Breckenridge, then beat Cisco 15-5 at Albany.

Coach Steven Sutton said the feat was made more impressive in light of the short turnaround the team had between games.

“We didn’t start until after 8:30 p.m. Friday, then we had an issue with the lights and had to pause the game,” Sutton said. “We didn’t get out of Breckenridge until after midnight, then had to start at 9:00 o’clock the next morning. The boys were at the field at 8:00 a.m. ready to roll, and we played probably the best game I’ve ever seen that group of kids play.”

Sutton said pitching set the tone against Cisco.

“I was proud of Ryder Anderson on Saturday,” Sutton said. “He threw 15 pitches and got us into that game. Then Hudson Ceder came in and got the final three outs.”

Albany fell behind quickly in a 16-0 loss to Wylie on Monday at Abilene Northern. Albany played Northern Tuesday in an elimination game at Abilene Southern, with results to be reported next week.

Guaranteed another game, Sutton elected to empty the bench against Wylie on Monday and save his pitching for Tuesday.

“We were able to save all our regular pitchers so they’d be fresh on Tuesday,” he said.

An added benefit, Sutton said, was allowing his younger players to gain experience.

“We let the younger group take over Monday,” he said. “They got to see what All-Star play is like. Next year when they get to come up, they’ll know what to expect and how to handle it a little bit better.”

Other team members are Patton Smith, Tusiani Togia, Cooper Roysdon, Paxton Slaughter, Aaron Waddell, John Mark Johnson, Cinch Holson, Sami Holson, Eli Sutton, Wyatt Brown, Grayson Tidwell, and Matthew Key.

Intermediate

The combined Albany-Breckenridge team opened play against a combined Wylie-Dixie team Tuesday, June 21 at Breckenridge. A second game against either Jim Ned or a combined team from Abilene’s Southern, Eastern, and Northern leagues was played Wednesday.

Albany team members are Clay Chapman, Aiden Vickers, Graham Ceder, and Colter Edgar. Clint Chapman is Albany’s representative on the coaching staff.

The Intermediates will play in a four-team double-elimination bracket with the championship to start at 7:00 p.m. Friday, June 24 at a site to be determined. If an extra game is needed, it will be played at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, June 25.