The Batesville Bats 15u traveled to Versailles, KY, this past weekend to participate in the Woodford Summer Slam and earned a
Photo provided by Paul Drake.
runner-up finish against solid competition from around the state of Kentucky.
The Bats avoided the heavy rains in the area Saturday and finished with the 2 seed for bracket play on Sunday. The squad lost to the eventual champs, KC Kryptonite out of Independence, KY, 8-0 and defeated the Rawlings Tigers from Richmond, KY, 5-4.
The squad defeated Canes Kentucky from Lexington, KY, 3-2 in a well played contest in the semi-final, capped with Carson Hartley stealing home to send the team to the championship contest.
Cayden Drake led the team in hitting for the tournament with a .333 batting average, Noah Weigel hit .273, while Carson Hartley and Jayden Blair hit .250.
Leading the squad from the hill were Clay Eckstein pitching a complete game vs the Canes for the semi-final win. The right hander pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 4 and walking 4. Austin Hodge was very effective in relief in the title game, striking out 3 and walking 2 while allowing 0 earned runs in 2 and 2/3 innings. RJ Foster was also effective against the eventual champs in pool play, striking out 3 and walking three while allowing 3 earned runs in 4 innings of work.
Leading the great team effort defensively were Eckstein, Drake, Jayden Blair, Hartley and Noah Weigel with 1.000 percentage.
The squad will next be in action Thursday through Sunday in the Greater Lafayette World Series played at various high school facilities around the Lafayette, IN, region. Check out the team in action on television by tuning into Indiana Sports Network.
Recap provided by Paul Drake.