Lightning suspends play at tournament

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Major League Baseball fans are worried about a player's strike in the near future.

Little League baseball officials were worried about a more dangerous strike last night when they suspended play due to lightning.

Russellville held a 4-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning when play was suspended.

Russellville's All-Stars went on top in the bottom of the third inning.

Jordan Hammond started the rally by drawing a walk. He moved to second when Jonathan Dill showed bunt, then pulled the back bat and took a full swing for a single.

Jake Ward followed Dill in the batting order and reached base on a fielder's choice when the Jackson All-Stars got a force out at third.

Dill and Ward both moved up a base on a passed ball only to be sent back because Dill left second base too early.

Corey Flannagan kept the rally going for Russellville with a single to load the bases.

Caleb Mitchell was the next batter and reached base on a fielder's choice when he hit a ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher came home for a force out, but Dill scored on an error.

Torey Baird then reached on an error to plate Ward for a 2-0 Russellville lead.

The next Russellville batter struck out. Then, Josh James hit a two-RBI single back up the middle and into center field.

Jackson got out of the inning without giving up any more runs, but trailed 4-0.

Jackson failed to score in the top of the fourth inning as Russellville starting pitcher Trey Hooper kept his one-hitter intact retiring the side in order.

In Monday night's late game, Russellville topped Cottage Hill by a final score of 2-1.

Russellville pitcher Troy Oliver pitched a complete game allowing one run on four hits and three walks. He had eight strikeouts, including the first three batters of the game.

Cottage Hill went on top 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning when Chris Wyatt drew an one-out walk and came around to score. Ryan Zalopany and Morgan Law had singles in the inning.

Josh James knotted the score at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning when he hit a two-out, solo home run. Russellville's offense responded to James' bomb by loading the bases, but failed to score with Cottage Hill getting out of the inning.

In the top of the fifth inning, Russellville went on top 2-1 when Caleb Mitchell scored the eventual game-winning run. James had an RBI-single in the inning after Torey Baird and Troy Oliver drew walks to load the bases.

Cottage Hill did not score in the bottom of the fifth or sixth as Russellville held on for the win.

Editor's Note: Tuesday night's game remained suspended at presstime. No final results were available.