Published: July 01, 2008 03:22 am            

LITTLE LEAGUE: New Albany, Jeff/GRC on collision course

Both teams earn decisive wins in 11-12 baseball

CHARLESTOWN — New Albany and Jeffersonville/GRC continued on their collision course in the District V 11-12 All-Star tournament on Monday at Charlestown Little League Park.

Both teams won their games by the 10-run rule in five innings. New Albany beat Charlestown 10-0, then Jeff/GRC downed Silver Creek, 12-1.



New Albany-Charlestown

New Albany broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a pair of runs, then ended the game in the fifth by adding eight more.

With Tucker Marcum cruising on the mound, New Albany scored two huge runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Kyle Landrum opened the inning with a triple. With one out, Peter Steinsberger doubled Landrum home, then Brandon Johnson doubled to plate Steinsberger.

To that point, New Albany coach Aaron Goad was sweating a bit.

“I was very concerned,” he said. “We came out flat. We didn’t have our heads in the game.”

In the fifth, Landrum hit his second home run of the tournament — a three-run shot that scored Marcum and Grant Goad — to give the New Albany Stars a 5-0 lead. New Albany’s first five batters reached base and scored in the inning.

“When our bats finally woke up, everything else started coming together,” Coach Goad said.

Landrum finished with three RBIs and scored twice.

“He can hit anything thrown at him,” Goad said.

Marcum threw a complete-game two-hitter and struck out eight. Danny Kent and Cole Hensley each had singles for Charlestown. Kent has two of Charlestown’s three hits in the tournament.

“Tucker kept the ball low and did an excellent job,” Aaron Goad said.



Jeff/GRC-Silver Creek

Drew Ellis didn’t allow a hit, struck out 12 and hit three home runs as Jeffersonville improved to 2-0 in the 11-12 tournament.

Ellis had six RBIs. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up a single run on a walk, an error and a wild pitch. Chandler Dale pitched the final two-thirds of an inning, striking out two. Ellis and Dale combined to strike out14 of the 18 batters they faced.

“If there’s a better player in the state of Indiana, I’d like to find out who (he) is, because I want him on my travel team,” said Derek Ellis, Drew’s father. “I was absolutely thrilled with his performance. He pitched an awesome game. It was the Drew Ellis show.”

Jeffersonville continued to get great offensive performances throughout its lineup. Ben Shahroudi went 2-for-4 and drove in five runs. Josh Burke and Dale each scored twice.

“We hit the ball well,” Derek Ellis said. “We haven’t hit nearly as well as we can, but we’ve faced two pretty good pitchers.”

        

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