Published: July 01, 2009 06:19 pm      

Pulaski All-Stars advance to district tourney

Burnside — Early in the Pulaski 11 &12 year old All-Star game against McCreary All-Stars at Cole Park, things were looking somewhat bleak for the local baseball standouts.

Down 4-0 in the first inning, the Pulaski All-Stars shut down the McCreary offense for the remainder of the game and mounted a monumental comeback in a 14-4 five-inning ‘mercy rule’ win.

The dramatic win not only gave the Pulaski Little League All-Stars a runner-up finish in the Area Tournament, but it vaulted the local club into the Little League District Tournament to be played in London, Ky., next week.

As mentioned before, things started off rocky for Pulaski as pitcher Jared Farris beamed two consecutive batters with bases loaded forcing in two runs. Two Pulaski fielding errors allowed two more McCreary runners to cross the plate to take the early 4-0 lead.

But that was as good as it got for the McCreary team, as Pulaski pitcher Jared Farris settled down on the mound to retire 11 of the next 12 batters in four scoreless innings. Farris struck out seven batters and dominated the McCreary batters in the final four innings.

Offensively, Pulaski chipped away at the McCreary lead before exploding for eight runs in the fourth inning.

In the first inning, Pulaski put up two runs when Bransen Hall doubled to center field to score Taylor Bowling and Derek Hall.

In the second, Pulaski tied the game at 4-4 after plating two more runs. With the bases loaded, Taylor Bowling hit into a fielder’s choice to score Dalton Taylor. However, McCreary tried to turn a double play on the force at second and Jacob Robinson scored after an errant throw to first base.

The game was still in doubt going into the bottom of the fourth inning with a 4-4 tie. But Pulaski exploded for eight runs on seven hits and sent 13 batters to the plate in the ‘go ahead’ inning.

The fourth inning started off with lead-off hitter Hunter Cromer hitting a double and advancing to third on a passed ball. Then, Taylor Bowling reached first base after being hit by pitch. Cromer scored on a double steal play, and Bowling scampered home after the McCreary throw to second base went into center field.

Jarred Farris doubled to center to score Derek Hall. Bransen Hall doubled to left field to score Farris. Brad Burton (pinch running for Bransen Hall) scored off a passed ball, and Brandon Patterson scored off a wild pitch.

Brad Burton singled to right field to score Dalton Taylor, and Derek Hall doubled to left field to score Hunter Cromer.

For all practical purposes the game was over after Pulaski’s huge fourth inning, but the local all-stars made it official with two more runs in the fifth to up their margin to a game-ending 10 runs.

In the fifth, Bransen Hall doubled to center to score Riley Shumard, and Brandon Patterson hit an infield single to score Bransen Hall.

The Pulaski All-Stars were led in hitting by Bransen Hall, who went 3-for-4 and drove in 4 runs. Derek Hall went 2-for-2 and scored 2 runs. Dalton Taylor went 2-for-2 and scored 2 runs.



MC 4 0 0 0 0 X — 4 1 2

PC 2 2 0 8 2 X — 14 11 2

2B — Cromer, D. Hall, Farris, B. Hall 2 (PC). RBI — B. Hall 4, Farris, Burton, D. Hall, Patterson (PC). WP — Farris (PC). LP — Worley (MC).