DISTRICT 5 DISPATCH: Dudley 10-12 softball all-stars defeat Warner Robins in championship game

Early-week results from District 5 tournaments for Dudley Little League 8-10 baseball and softball and 10-12 softball all-stars.

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Sports
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June 19, 2024
THE DISTRICT 5 CHAMPS: Mattie Claire Sapp, Rilyn Smith, Mallori Necci, Audrie Edenfield, Colbee Sapp, Zoey Wood, Payton Upshaw, Kinsley Moore, Layla Phophitt, FInlee Moss, Paisley Powell, Sarah Vaughn and coaches Tim Edenfield, Ian Smith and Jeremy Kilgore/JANICE BALLARD

Dudley Little League’s 10-12 softball all-stars captured the District 5 championship – along with a shot at the Georgia state title next month – with their 3-2 victory in the finale of a best-of-three series with Warner Robins American Tuesday night in Gray.

The pair of teams, who were the tournament’s only entrants, battled to split in their Monday doubleheader (Dudley winning the first 5-4, and WRALL the the second 18-12) before finishing six innings of the rubber match all even at 2-2. Some key outs in two extra innings – with starting pitcher Paisley Powell going the distance in the circle – led up to a shot at the win in the bottom of the eighth, when Dudley walked off after scoring the winning run on a muffed pop fly behind second base.

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It’s three-peat for the group of players, whose all-star teams won district titles at 8-10 and 9-11 age levels the two summers leading up to this one. They will move on to state next month looking to become Dudley’s third team in four seasons to reach the Southeast Regional tournament in Little League’s premier 10-12 division.

PAISLEY PARK: Paisley Powell was right at home in the circle for Dudley, pitching the full eight innings to earn the win/JANICE BALLARD
TROUBLE, AVOIDED: Audrie Edenfield makes the catch amid a crowd of teammates to rob a Warner Robins hit on a threatening pop fly into no-man’s land for a key extra-inning out/JANICE BALLARD

Dudley’s 8-10 baseball and softball all-star teams will both face an uphill climb from the loser’s bracket as they continue district tournament play Wednesday night.

The 8-10 softballers, also competing in Gray, won their Monday-nighter to open the tournament in shutout fashion over Western, 12-0, but then fell 11-2 to Warner Robins American on Tuesday night. They will play Western for a second time Wednesday night, with hopes of earning a rematch with WRALL in the finals on Thursday.

Check out the Dudley Little League Facebook page for more photos from this week’s district 5 softball tournaments.

Meanwhile, back at Scott Brown Field in Dudley, the baseball all-stars will be looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking opening loss as they re-take the field against Chatham County, in need of a win to remain alive.

WRALL’s all-stars handed them a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss Monday night, walking off with the winning run on the RBI single of Evan Edwards in the bottom of the sixth after Chase Patterson’s strikeout in the top half kept the game scoreless with the bases loaded.

WRALL and Western – hanging on for a second in back-to-back one-run wins after edging Vine-Ingle 6-5 Monday – came out on top again Tuesday night, and will match up Thursday in the winner’s bracket final. 

DUDLEY DEFENSE: Some great pitching, and plays in the field by Dudley helped keep Monday’s game scoreless through five. Top: Hayden Green gathers a grounder and fires to first for an out. Bottom left: Luke Wilcher delivers a pitch. Bottom right: Mason McNeal makes a kneeling catch to nab a line drive for an out/CLAY REYNOLDS
WRALL WALK-OFF: Evan Edwards is mobbed by Warner Robins American teammates after his single drove in Cannon Dawson for the winning run in the bottom of Monday’s sixth inning. Both players’ hits led to the only run on an otherwise quiet night, and, for Dudley, a bitter ending to a hard-fought opening game/CLAY REYNOLDS
ON THE SAFE SIDE: Between the umpire, third base coach and fans outside the fence, there was no disagreement on this side of the ballpark as to the call as Western’s Chandler West slid into third safely after advancing on an initial double to drive in the first two runs of their game with Vine-Ingle to follow the above. He’d later score to add a third run to his team’s first-inning lead, which would double to 6-0 in a three-run third, but only narrowly survived a last-chance comeback. After being held to only a run in innings 3-5, Vine-Ingle reeled off four– and nearly a tying fifth that was cut down attempting to score on a passed ball –before three quick Western outs got the 6-5 result to safety/CLAY REYNOLDS
Authors
Clay Reynolds

Clay took over the Sports Desk in 2020, but has been with The Courier Herald as a virtual jack of all trades since joining the staff as a student intern in 2010. The Dublin native, a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has worked all over the newsroom in a variety of full- and part-time roles and received numerous Georgia Press Association awards for his writing, photography and editing. In addition to reading his area sports coverage, you can also hear him on the radio as a local play-by-play voice, host of 92.7 WKKZ’s “Tailgate Party” and occasional contributor to the Georgia Southern Sports Network.

Janice Ballard

If there’s anything Janice enjoys more than photography, it’s frequenting Laurens County’s many social and sporting events. She’s been doing both for more than 10 years as a Courier Herald contributor, tasked with capturing the many moments that make life in our community special. The Dudley resident regularly documents local athletic contests and holiday festivities, while always keeping an eye out for unexpected photo opportunities along the way. During summertime, you can usually catch her near the home-plate backstops at Dudley Little League ballfields enjoying a Sno Biz or cinnamon pretzel while shooting the youth baseball and softball action.

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