Welcome to morganton.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

Morganton.com - Morganton - The News Herald

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

District 7 Little League champs

Morganton All-Stars crush Wilkes

Tommy Fleming | The News Herald

The Morganton Little League 11-12 All-Stars completed the District 7 tournament with an unblemished 5-0 record on Monday.

By Tommy Fleming | The News Herald

Published: July 21, 2009

Morganton - One step closer to Williamsport.
That was the message sent loud and clear by the Morganton Little League squad on Monday night.
The 11-12 All-Stars crushed Wilkes National 12-0 in the District 7 championship game held at Gene Turner Memorial Park.
The start of the game was delayed two hours because of a strong storm consisting of thunder, lightning, hail and a heavy downpour of rain.
The All-Stars, who had just defeated the same Wilkes National squad 3-0 six days earlier in North Wilkesboro, completed the District 7 tourney with an unblemished 5-0 record. Morganton outscored their opponents 47-6 during the 5-game span, which included four shutouts.
Morganton had all cylinders clicking after the storm as the team smacked five home runs in their 10-hit barrage that was coupled with a strong defensive performance.
The fireworks began in the bottom of the second inning. Garrett Clemmons reached first on a Wilkes National error then was erased on a fielder's choice by James Antley. Collins Hamer then struck out.
Morganton shortstop Jonas Bradshaw, who stands 4-feet, 8-inches tall and weighs 71 pounds, deposited a 2-2 pitch over the centerfield fence for his first-ever home run to give the All-Stars a 2-0 advantage.
Bradshaw's home run began a domino effect as right-fielder Noah Eggers drilled a 3-0 pitch over the left-field fence and second baseman Grayson Moses followed with a crushing homer over the center-field fence to increase the Morganton lead to 4-0.
"At first, I thought the centerfielder was going to rob me. It was great to put our team ahead. Then we hit two more home runs, all with two outs," Bradshaw said. "It felt really good to hit my first home run but even better to help my team win. It feels really good to be heading to the state championships and playing in a new stadium that just opened."
The bench played a huge part in the three runs scored in the third inning. With one out, Clemmons walked. Donnie Hughes came in as a courtesy runner. Antley smoked a line drive to deep right-center field to put runners on the corners.
Peyton Mull then entered and executed a bunt single to score Hughes.
Hughes entered the game in the seven spot and laid down a perfect bunt down the thirdbase line to load the bases. Ben Buff walked to plate Antley. William Kirk then walked to score Mull to push the advantage to 7-0.
Morganton iced the game in the fifth. Hamer led off with a solo home run. Eggers reached base on an error by the Wilkes third baseman. Eggers quickly moved to third base on back-to-back stolen bases.
With one out, Moses grounded out as Eggers crossed home plate with the All-Stars' ninth run.
Trenton Totty, who walked in the second inning, then was robbed of a hit to center in the third, reached first on a sharp single to center field. Ray Pierce followed with a fierce grounder up the middle for a single.
First baseman Logan Pearson, who had struck out in his first three at-bats, launched a rocket shot to deep center field for a three-run homer to end the game.
Antley pitched the entire game. The youngster faced 20 batters, threw 69 pitches, surrendered three singles, walked one and struck out nine Wilkes hitters. The Morganton defense only allowed one Wilkes player to reach second base in the entire game.
"It was rather scary to be called on to pitch this game as the championship was on the line. I knew they had some really killer hitters but I pitched very well and threw mostly strikes," said Antley, a student at Morganton Day School. "Both Garrett (Clemmons) and Ray (Pierce) are our best catchers and they will never let a ball go by them, as both will dive for anything. I am all excited, just as the whole team is, about being able to head to the state tournament."
Morganton will play at 12:15 p.m. Saturday against District 4 champion Greenville North State in the first round of the state tournament in Wilson.