In Steele Creek, where the league has entered two TOC teams, MP Red is having great success. The team is 3-0, thanks to quality pitching, solid defense and powerful hitting. Last night's 20-3 victory over Coul-Oak was highlighted by back-to-back home runs by William Hamil and Rex Brietz in the 4th inning. The team has enjoyed solid hitting throughout the lineup, with prior home runs by Alex Cherne (2) and Clay Richards. The hitting and catching of RaQuan McLendon has been another key to their early success. MP Red plays Lake Norman tonight at 8:00. The medal round begins on Thursday (6/21).
Also in Steele Creek, MP Blue dropped its first two games of pool play, but bounced back with wins over Mint Hill and Steele Creek with a total team effort on both Monday and Tuesday nights. The pitching of Kobe Mayers, Jordan Archie and others has been great, with big help from the catching of Harrison Flouhouse. The hitting was solid as well, led by guys like Jack Ahlum, Bennett Smith, Michael Bixby, Baker Jarrell, Flouhouse and Archie. MP Blue unfortunately just missed out on a tiebreaker scenerio that almost sent them to the semifinals. Great to see this team come back, though, and finish with a couple of clutch wins.
At Myers Park, the MP 11-year-olds are 2-1 with a 10-9 loss to Coul-Oak, an 8-4 win over Weddington National and a 9-0 win over Lake Norman. Hitting has come from all parts of the lineup at various times: 3 hits by Hayden Malchesky and two doubles by Alexander Donald in game 1; two RBI hits by McRae Gage and a 2-RBI hit by Drew Robelen in game 2; two doubles by Henry Merchant, and a triple and inside-the-park home run by Patrick Alvarez in game 3 (click on the picture above for a great shot of that moment). The pitching is getting better as the week goes by. Alvarez threw very well in relief on Monday night, and last night's shutout victory over Lake Norman was highlighted by a 4 2/3 inning, 35 pitch outing by Merchant, with Pres Cavenaugh and Donald in relief. The 11's play Dilworth tonight at 6:00 as they try to advance to the semis.
Over at Dilworth, our MP 10-year-olds are rolling along at 3-0 with big victories over Dilworth, Weddington American and Lake Norman. This team is really putting it all together with the pitching of guys like Ben Morehead, Crawford Wade and several others; the hitting of Jackson Krisko, Jack Shaw, Reed Bolin, Morehead and just about the entire lineup; and some great defense to back it all up. The 10's were off last night and have Wednesday night off as well. They play Dilworth again on Thursday at 6:00. The medal round begins on Friday.
Back at Myers Park, our 9-year-old team has also found success with back-to-back wins over Steele Creek and Dilworth, after dropping its first game to Weddington American. The bats have come to life, led by Harris Hollar and Harrison Bobbitt. The pitching has been solid as well, with Scott Hosmer, Hutch Bray and others on the mound. The work of Max Brietz behind the plate has been a big help to them. The 9's play Weddington American again tonight at 8:00.
Good luck to all of our Myers Park teams the rest of the way. Sorry if any deserving players have been left out above. It's hard to include all the bright spots on these great teams. Coaches and parents, please continue to send in scores and highlights. Some pictures would be great too.
Remember that TOC schedules are posted here. Scores for the 9's and 11's tournaments being hosted by MPTLL are being updated on the league's Tournaments page. And here are results for the 10's and 12's (incomplete).
The best place to get up to the minute scores and highlights from each game is our MPTLL Twitter page. I will be tweeting on all the live action as often as possible each night - whether you are a follower or not. You don't even need a Twitter account, but it makes it easier. Check it out here. And spread the word. GO MP!
