Covington County wins district

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 10, 2003

A close game turned into a lopsided win for Covington County.

The 11- and 12-year-old Covington County Little League All-Stars won the title game of the District 5 Tournament in Brewton on Thursday by outscoring the Opp All-Stars 14-1 in four innings.

The game was tied after one inning of play and remained tied until the top of the third when Covington County took a 2-1 advantage.

Covington County's offense got on track in the top of the fourth scoring 12 runs for a 14-1 lead.

Opp failed to score in the bottom of the fourth as Covington County earned the win.

The win earns Covington County a trip to the Alabama Little League State Tournament.

Clay Stacks had a big game for Covington County, despite not being in the starting line-up.

Stacks got his first atbat in the fourth inning and came through for his team with a single into right field - only to be replaced by a pinch runner.

He got another chance to hit later in the inning as Covington County batted around. Stacks did his own running after his second hit. Actually, Stacks jogged around the bases after hitting a

three-run home run over the center field fence 210 feet away to give Covington County a 10-run lead at 11-1.

The fourth inning began with Matthew Bond reaching on a lead-off single followed by Stacks base hit. Cole Armstrong came in and ran for Stacks.

Andrew Rabren followed Stacks and hit an RBI-single to plate Bond for a 3-1 Covington County lead.

Ethan King and Shane Turner kept the rally going as both reached on errors. Armstrong scored on one of the errors.

Opp got the next two batters out. Then, Aaron Haag knocked in two runs on a double and went to third on another Opp error.

Emory Rabren reached on a walk and Bond reached on an error which allowed Haag to score.

Stacks followed Bond with his three-run homer to clear the bases and give Covington County an 11-1 lead.

Armstrong followed him and reached on a bloop single. King then drew a walk. Both runners advanced one base on a wild pitch.

Shane Turner had runners in scoring position and came through in the clutch with a two-RBI double. He went to third on a fielding error. Kyle Nolen followed him and ripped an RBI-single for a 14-1 lead.

Opp got the next batter out to end the scoring.

Covington County started the game with a run in the top of the first when Turner double off the left-field fence. He scored later in the inning on Cale Nolen's fielder's choice.

Opp tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Josh Dunn reached on an error and scored on Colby Wyatt's RBI-single.

Covington County went on top 2-1 in the top of the third inning when Cale Nolen scored after reaching on a fielder's choice. He scored on a throwing error.

Cale Nolen was also the winning pitcher allowing one run on two hits. He did not issue a walk and struck out eight.