They met again with a lot on the line on Sunday at noon in Laurinburg, in the quarterfinals of the 8U state tournament. This time, there was no title on the line, but the winner advanced to the semis and the loser went home. It did feel a little different, though, because of a chance meeting on Saturday. Rain delayed some of the Saturday pool play games, so there was some standing around and waiting (OK, a LOT of standing around and waiting) for games to be played. It so happened that both West Raleigh and Winterville were two of those teams that were waiting. And what happened? Well, they acted like normal eight-year-olds:
As you can see, West Raleigh sent over two of their best diplomats--Bryce and Elias. The group eventually expanded to include most of both teams, and they joked around, talked about practice, and just did whatever 8-year-olds do when their parents and coaches aren't around. As one of the Winterville moms said, "My son is always talking about West Raleigh, and maybe this will help him see they are just baseball players like him."
But the rivals being newfound friends didn't make the quarterfinal game any less intense, as 8U Blue grabbed a 12-0 decision in four innings to advance to the semifinals. No Winterville runner made it to third base, and only one made it as far as second base, as West Raleigh flashed solid defense all over the diamond.
The victory moved Blue into the state semifinals against North View Gold.
Quarterfinal 8U Blue scoring plays
First inning
Bryce led off with a single. JT sacrificed him to second. With two outs, Chace ripped a double to left for the game's first run. Jake singled back through the middle to score Chace.
Score after one inning: 8U Blue 2, Winterville 0
Second inning
Once again, the second inning was the big one, as 8U Blue batted around for the sixth time in the state tournament. It began with back-to-back singles from Elias and Joey, and then Ben drove home Elias with a single. Asher sacrificed the runners to second and third. Bryce's shot to left-center scored Joey. With two outs, Gavin singled, loading the bases for Chace. They didn't stay loaded for long, as Chace cracked an RBI single to left that scored two, and then when the ball was thrown around the infield, Gavin hustled all the way home and Chace moved up to second. He scored on Jake's single. Andrew's shot to third put runners on first and second, and then Elias collected his second hit of the inning, an RBI single. Joey singled back through the middle to score Andrew and finish the scoring.
Score after two innings: 8U Blue 10, Winterville 0
Third inning
Carter beat out a ball in the middle of the infield and motored all the way to third when the throw got away. Bryce singled him home. After a fielder's choice, Gavin singled JT to second. He scored on Chace's long drive to right-center.
Score after three innings: 8U Blue 12, Winterville 0
Quarterfinal Web Gems
- Bryce backed up on a pop fly that ended up in shallow right and hauled it in for the second out of the second inning--part of three straight outs that he made from his second base position.
- Elias quietly made a very significant play in the fourth. With a runner on first, he was there to back up Joey in the outfield. When the hard-hit ball got by Joey, Elias was there to scoop it up and fire it in to limit the hitter to just one base--rather than the two bases or more that he would have gotten. Why does that matter? Glad you asked...
- Because on the very next hitter, with the double play still in order thanks to Elias's backup, the hitter slapped a two-hopper up the middle. Gavin gathered it on the short hop, stepped on second, and then fired to Chace at first for the game-ending double play (West Raleigh's fifth double play in five state tournament games).
| Quarterfinal line score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H |
| Winterville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | X | 0 | 1 |
| WR 8U Blue | 2 | 8 | 2 | X | X | X | 12 | 13 |
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