8-year-old team makes final eight
Published 9:15 pm Friday, June 28, 2013
The 8-year-old all-star team is: front row, left; Ty Robinson, Will Smith, J.T. Alaniz, Bryson Williams, Chris Johnson and Braden Woods. Middle row, Ty’Derrion Pettway, JaKanye Hooks, Na’Davion Steele, Carmelo Turner, Anthony McCants, Joshua Burkett, last row, Benny Alaniz, Cleave Williams, Bradley Woods and Josh Burkett.
The Atmore 8-year-old all-star baseball team mounted a furious comeback to stay alive after losing the first game in a tournament in Opp before losing to the eventual champions in the knockout round.
Atmore was one of the final eight teams in the tournament out of 17 total teams, said manager Benny Alaniz.
“We lost the first game, but won two in a row,” he said. “We were two games from (the regional tournament in) Virginia. It was a pretty big deal.”
The team’s defense held solid throughout the tournament that started last Saturday, but hitting was the problem in the first game, Alaniz said.
“I knew going in we were making good contact,” he said. “We didn’t in the first game.”
The team rallied after game one to beat Sylacauga 12-8 and Coosa County 15-4 to make it to the knockout stage of the tournament, where they lost to Matthews.
Matthews beat Westside for the tournament title.
Alaniz said that while the whole team played good defense over the weekend, Kanye Hooks was a standout.
“He made lots of key plays,” he said.
He added that T.J. Pettway also had a good tournament.
