Published: July 01, 2008 03:07 am            

DISTRICT V NOTEBOOK: HYR rallies to beat NA

Clarksville moves closer to berth in 11-12 softball final

CHARLESTOWN — Kyle Bramble hit a walk-off triple to give Highlander Youth Recreation a 5-4 win over rival New Albany in both teams’ opener in the District V 13-14 All-Star tournament at Charlestown Little League Park on Monday.

Bramble lined a shot to right-center field just over the glove of center fielder Jalen Stubbins. Shane Missi, who reached on an error and went to second base on a sacrifice bunt, scored from second to end the game.

“The last game we played in the tournament in Sellersburg (last weekend), he hit two in the exact same spot,” HYR coach Marty Reinhart said. “He’s got pop and we were hoping that he would hit it in that spot.”

“It’s pretty exciting,” Bramble said. “It’s one of the biggest hits I’ve ever had.”

New Albany broke on top early with a single run in the top of the second. Leighton Scales singled then later scored on an error. Errors contributed on all four New Albany runs.

“We’re good at giving people runs,” Reinhart said. “We’re too nice.”

HYR overcame the defensive deficiency to score the game’s next four runs. Shortstop Trey Reinhart had a hand in all four runs.

In the third, Reinhart hit a ground-rule double that scored Garrett Shanks and Matt Rue. He later scored on a wild pitch to give HYR a 3-1 lead.

In the fourth, Reinhart singled up the middle, scoring Rue again.

“He’s got a lot of power,” Coach Reinhart said. “Offensively, he was huge.”

New Albany cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fifth. Stubbins reached on an error and then went to third on a throwing error that allowed Zach Worrall to reach first. Stubbins scored when Zach Combs singled, then Worrall scored on a wild pitch.

New Albany tied the score in the top of the seventh on a wild play.

With Stubbins on second and Worrall on first, Combs popped into an infield fly. When the ball dropped between the pitcher and catcher, both Stubbins and Worrall were caught between bases. As HYR attempted to retire Worrall between first and second base for the final out of the game, Stubbins broke for home plate. He just beat the throw to even the score at 4-4.

“It seems like New Albany and HYR always have close, wild games,” Coach Reinhart said. “It’s fun playing against them.”

Although New Albany fell short, its head coach — Todd Popson — wasn’t too upset.

“This shows that we can play with any of these teams,” Popson said. “We played a good game — not our best hitting game — and we stayed right with them. I’m disappointed that we lost, but we still have a chance to meet them in the final.”



11-12 SOFTBALL

• Clarksville is halfway to the District V 11-12 softball tournament championship game after a come-from-behind 4-2 win over HYR.

Amber Perez gave up two runs in the first inning, then retired 14 straight batters between the start of the second inning and two outs in the sixth.

Perez struck out 10 HYR batters and had a two-RBI single in Clarksville’s key four-run fifth inning.

• Silver Creek beat Jeffersonville 13-1 in four innings in its tournament opener. Silver Creek pitcher Shayla Cravens struck out six and gave up just two hits.

Offensively for Silver Creek, Jess Parrish went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Abby Goff walked and scored three times.



9-10 BASEBALL

• Ricky West hit three home runs and had six RBIs as New Albany downed Charlestown 14-3 in both teams’ opener.

Timmy Redford’s double started a six-run rally for New Albany in the sixth inning.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.