10U All-Stars end in 3rd place
By Donnie A. Lucas
Both of Albany’s Little League All-Star teams continued bracket games in the District 5 tournament last week, with the 12U team advancing to the third round and the 10U squad finishing in third place after a fifth round loss.
The two local teams both played Breckenridge teams in Albany on Tuesday, June 25 with mixed results, then the 10U players went on to play two more games later in the week.
10U Results
The 10U team beat Breckenridge 16-10.
Clint Chapman, coach of the 10U squad, said that Aiden Vickers, Graham Ceder, and Lyle Wheeler pitched well, and the entire team had to hit well to stay ahead of the Breckenridge team.
The 10U All-Stars next played Wylie on Thursday, June 27, losing 17-2 to the eventual tournament winners.
“The umpire had an extremely tight strike zone, so the score didn’t show what either team could really do,” Chapman said.
The10U team faced off against Abilene Dixie on Saturday, losing 13-8.
Vickers pitched all but two innings, then Ceder and Colter Edgar came in as relief for one inning each.
“We had a four-run lead going into the bottom of the fifth, but Dixie had a good inning and took the lead at the end,” Chapman said.
Albany finished in third place, with Wylie defeating Dixie in the final game for the championship.
“I saw each player improve tremendously during the season,” said Chapman. “We practiced hard, and the kids never complained.”
The coach offered a special thanks to the parents who helped with practices, scorekeeping, and home field tournament games.
The 10U All-Stars included Clay Chapman, Aiden Vickers, Lyle Wheeler, Slayton Parsons, Bennett Neece, Colter Edgar, Blake Britting, Graham Ceder, Pecos Duke, and Jakobi Word. Cash Edgar was the alternate.
12U Results
The older All-Stars found themselves in a 3-0 hole after the first inning during the Breckenridge game, which eventually ended in a 7-2 loss.
The team tried to recover from the early deficit for the rest of the game, according to coach John Tom Heatly.
“We were very familiar with Breckenridge because we played them several times,” Heatly said. “They are well-coached and very disciplined, and we got behind after they hit a three-run homer in the first inning.”
The coached commended the Albany players for continuing to battle.
“We scattered six hits against three really good pitchers but left eight on base and never got timely hits to close the gap on the scoreboard,” said Heatly.
The coach said that his pitchers did a good job, including Laithe Leech, Wesley Gleitz, Huffman Heatly, and Will LeMay.
“Our pitchers combined for eight strikeouts, giving up eight hits,” he said, “but Breckenridge got five of their runs off of home runs. This was a closer game than the score indicated.”
Leading at the plate for Albany were Calhan and Cade Fairchild with two hits each, along with Mason McCloy and Brody Oliver with one hit apiece.
The 12U team was eliminated from the double elimination tournament by Snyder last Thursday, 8-6.
“We played a very close game against Snyder’s best two pitchers,” Heatly said. “We led 1-0 in the first but gave up three runs in the top of the second, coming back in the bottom half to score three runs of our own.’
The coach said that the local team never gave up.
“They fought to the bitter end,” he said. “We left nine people on base because we couldn’t get timely hits.”
The team had nine hits in the game, including three from Calhan Fair-child, two each from Huffman Heatly and Woods Peterson, and one with both McCloy and Cade Fairchild.
Huffman Heatly pitched three and two-thirds innings with seven strikeouts, followed by LeMay with four strikeouts over two and a third innings.
“I thought our pitchers did a great job against a good Snyder team,” Heatly said. “I really felt that we were the better team, but we couldn’t get the hits we needed when the bases were loaded.”
The coach said that he was honored to coach the group over several years and expects they will have a bright future as they move forward.
“I also want to thank John Peterson, David Fairchild, and Clayton Oliver for helping coach the team,” he said.
The 12U roster included Will LeMay, Mason McCloy, Brody Oliver, Calhan Fairchild, Wesley Gleitz, Sam Vickers, Cade Fairchild, Huffman Heatly, Woods Peterson, Jake Hale, Shawn Keen, Gatlin Wills, and Laithe Leech.
