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The Hayden-Winkelman Little League Minor All Stars receive instruction from their coach.
The goal of reaching the State Little League Tournament came to an end for the Hayden All Stars Minors last week as they fell to the Mt. Graham (Safford) team.
After defeating the Kearny All Start Team, the Hayden team took on the Mt. Graham All Stars in a Winners’ Bracket game.The game was close for three innings with Hayden building a 3-2 lead. The game soon got out of had for Hayden as fielding errors allowed four Mt. Graham runs, giving them a 6-3 lead after Hayden went down quietly in their half of the fourth.
The fifth inning was not good for Hayden. The Mt. Graham bats came alive scoring five runs to give them an 11-3 lead. Hayden’s fifth looked promising, loading the bases with one out, but the Hayden bats went quiet stranding the runners on base. Both teams scored two runs apiece in the sixth, giving Mt. Graham the win 13-5.
Hayden on the mound.
The next day, Kearny took on the Morenci-Clifton team in an elimination game. This game turned out to be an exciting one. Kearny took a three-run lead in the second inning but lost the lead when Morenci-Clifton scored four in the top of the third. The Morenci 4-3 lead did not last long as Kearny scored four runs to take a 7-4 lead after three innings. Both teams scored a run apiece in the fourth with Kearny adding a run in the fifth for a 9-5 lead.
The sixth was very exciting. The Morenci bats came out strong in the sixth, scoring five runs to take a 10-9 lead. Kearny did not back down. After two walks and a strikeout, disaster struck Morenci as a throwing error allowed two Kearny runs to come in, giving Kearny a 10-9 win and a rematch against Hayden.
The second Hayden-Kearny game was much like their first meeting. After three exiting innings of play and Hayden holding a 2-1 lead, they headed to the fourth inning. Just like the first meeting, Hayden held Kearny in the fourth to no runs, but the Hayden bats came alive, scoring eight runs on five hits and four walks to hand Kearny another 10-run rule loss to end their run in the tournament 11-1. The Hayden win gave them another shot at the Mt. Graham team.
Hayden All Star on third base.
The next Hayden-Mt. Graham game turned into a slugfest with Hayden taking a 9-8 lead after two innings. Both teams went down in order in the third with Hayden scoring two runs in the fourth to take an 11-8 lead after four innings.
The fifth inning was a good one for both teams. The Mt. Graham bats came out hot, scoring four runs to take a 12-11 lead. Hayden, in their half of the fifth, scored two runs to take a 13-12 lead into the sixth inning. Both teams went quiet in the sixth to give Hayden the win and another game for the championship.
The championship game looked to be a repeat of the previous night’s game as both teams scored four runs apiece in the first three innings. In the fourth inning, the Hayden team could not score while the Mt. Graham team came up with three runs to take a 7-4 lead with two innings of play left.
The fifth inning was a slugfest as both teams sent 10 batters to the plate. When the dust cleared, Mt. Graham held a 12-9 lead. The sixth inning was quite. Mt. Graham went down in order, giving Hayden hope in their turn in the sixth but they too went down 1-2-3 to give Mt. Graham the 12-9 win and the championship.
The Hayden-Winkelman Little League Board wats to give a big thanks to all who came out, enduring the hot temperatures to support all the players. If you didn’t come out, you missed a great opportunity to maybe see a future star baseball player.
Great games, Minor League All Stars!
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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