Pasadena Texas

Blue 13s roll over Georgia, KC http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=9908215&BRD=1579&PAG=461&dept_id=181232&rfi=6 HOUSTON - Not even seemingly unfair tournament brackets is able to stop the city's red-hot 13-year-old All-Stars at the moment. Forced to play back-to-back contests on the opening day of the Pony Baseball South Zone Tournament Saturday, while another team didn't play at all, the Blue 13s still came out smelling like a rose. Zach McDaniel drove in a game-high three RBI and Derek Bussa pitched nearly five innings of good relief work as the Blue 13s completed a sweep of their South Zone doubleheader with an 8-4 win over host Kyle Chapman late Saturday night. In the early contest, pitcher Jacob Johnson retired the last 12 batters he faced and Shane Hamaker knocked in three runs as the team belted Douglasville, Georgia 8-4 at Kyle Chapman Field. The twin wins raised the state champions' winning streak to eight consecutive victories. More importantly, the Blue 13s get a day off today, before returning to action Monday night at 8:30.Shane Hamaker picked up the save in the second game by working the last inning and a third. He struck out the meat of Kyle Chapman's order in the seventh to end the game. Tied 1-1 in the second game, the Blue 13s scored six unanswered runs. They produced two runs in the third, two in the fourth and two more in the sixth. They did it on the strength of five hits, two Kyle Chapman errors, a balk call and two of McDaniel's RBIs. McDaniel made it 7-1 in the sixth as manager David Turner employed the suicide squeeze play to perfection. McDaniel bunted the ball up the third-base line, but by time the third baseman gloved the ball, the only play to be made was at first as Jacob Johnson streaked across home plate standing up. Johnson, who scored three times in the game, doubled and went to third on a wild pitch that scored Bussa to make it 6-1. Kyle Chapman scored three runs in the home half of the sixth to make it 7-4. Bussa lost the strike zone, going to a 3-0 count on three straight hitters. All three either walked or singled and all three eventually scored. After his third walk of the inning, Turner went to Hamaker, who walked the first batter he saw, putting the tying run at the plate. But then he got Ross Chan to fly out to center field to keep the damage at three runs. The walks in the sixth were the first by the Blue 13s pitching staff in the opening 13 innings of the tourney. The Blue 13s netted their eighth run when Jerry Gutierrez, batting for the first time since early June because of a broken elbow, hit a fly ball to center field that was dropped. Nick Kone drove him in. Bussa, in relief of starter Dylan Adamek, gave the Blue 13s the handsome effort on the hill they needed. The youngster took the mound for the second inning and didn't allow a hit until one out in the fifth that amounted to nothing. The team took its 3-1 lead in the third when Johnson singled home Bussa and McDaniel ripped a double past the third-base bag, scoring Johnson. In the fourth, the team made it 5-1 without the benefit of a basehit. Once more, little Austin Turpin started the one-out rally when he walked on four pitches. Logan Gallardo also walked as did Adamek to load the bases. After a strikeout, Johnson appeared to hit into the third out, but the first baseman lost the handle on the ball, scoring pinchrunner Aaron Baker. Moments later, relief pitcher Jeremy Schaffer was called for a balk, scoring the fifth run. McDaniel's first RBI came in the opening frame when he sent a grounder to the diving third baseman, who deflected the ball into shallow left field, enabling Johnson to score all the way from second base. Paul Knowlton was the starting and losing pitcher, departing the hill after three and a third innings, giving up five runs on four hits. In the opening game, Johnson shook off a tying three-run homer off the bat of Demarius Johnson in the fourth to finish the contest with a flourish and a five-hitter. Not another Georgia state champion batter found first base. In fact, the Georgia batters never got the ball out of the infield over the last four innings. Seven ground ball outs, three to second sacker Scott Talton, four strikeouts and a fly ball to third base was all Georgia could do against the Blue 13 lefty down the stretch. "My arm felt better than it did on (last) Sunday," said Johnson, who started the state championship game against Baytown on July 20, but was gone by the second inning. "He had a bad outing at state, but he redeemed himself today," Turner said. Douglasville went three up, three down in five of the seven innings. In the third, two hits led to a play at the plate, but Adamek in center fielder threw out Josh Frank at the plate, trying to score on a Tyler Carroll bloop single. After losing their 4-0 lead in the fourth, the Blue 13s constructed a new one in the fifth, scoring three times. Douglasville would have gotten out of the inning witout a run, but on strike three to McDaniel, the ball got away from the catcher, allowing Johnson to score and McDaniel to reach first. The goof really hurt minutes later when Hamaker knocked in two runs with a single that scored McDaniel and Ismael Reyes. ©Pasadena Citizen 2003