The Macomb 10U Little League baseball squad completed pool play at the Illinois Little League State Tournament by splitting a pair of contests.
After Monday’s schedule was wiped out by rainy weather, the Macomb squad, representing District 17, returned to play Tuesday, facing a pair of opponents.
Macomb faced Hyde Park, representing District 12 in its first game.
After a wild first inning, Macomb settled in before exploding for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth on the way to posting a 14-4 victory.
The first inning saw Hyde Park score four runs. The frame included three singles, two walks, a hit batter, a sacrifice fly and a passed ball.
Macomb answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring five times. Macomb had three hits in the inning, but Hyde Park also committed five errors that allowed Macomb to take the lead.
After the first inning, neither team scored again until Macomb salted the game away in the bottom of the fifth.
Macomb sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning that included three hits, three errors, three walks and two fielder’s choices.
Colt DeCounter pitched one scoreless inning in relief to record the win. He allowed no hits and walked one batter.
Reeve Dexter started the contest. He pitched one inning, allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits. Dexter walked two and hit a batter.
Emmett Thompson pitched three innings in relief, scattering three hits, while striking out two.
Macomb finished with just seven hits, taking advantage of 11 Hyde Park errors that led to nine unearned runs for Macomb.
Leo Wright and DeCounter both scored twice as Macomb had 10 different player score runs.
Nine different players had one run batted in, while seven also had one hit apiece.
Hyde Park saw its record slip to 1-2.
Following its third win in as many games, Macomb immediately flew back into action against Ridge Beverly from District 7.
After both teams scored twice in the first inning, Ridge Beverly controlled the middle innings on the way to recording 9-3 victory.
Macomb finished pool play with a 3-1 record, while Ridge Beverly improved to 3-0.
Ridge Beverly took advantage of a pair of Macomb errors and base hit in its first at-bat to take a 2-0 lead.
Macomb answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
Wright singled to right and moved to second on a passed ball. Brady Worthington walked with both runners advancing a base on another passed ball.
A throwing error on the catcher allowed Wright to score and Worthington to reach third. He scored when Dexter singled to left, tying the score at 2-2.
Ridge Beverly grabbed the lead for good in the top of the third, scoring three runs.
A single and triple led to the first run, before the second run scored on a passed ball. A walk, passed ball and base hit led to the third run.
Ridge Beverly tallied a single run in the firth that made it 6-2 before scoring its final three runs in the fifth.
A double and two singles led to the first run before a two-out error allowed the final two runs to score.
Macomb scored its final run in the bottom of the sixth as an error, walk and single loaded the bases before Rysor Plate hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed DeCounter to score.
Ridge Beverly out-hit Macomb 9-3 with three Macomb errors leading to four unearned runs. Ridge Beverly had two errors that led to a pair of unearned runs.
Wright and Dexter had two hits each for Macomb. Plate added a hit and a run batted in, while Andersen Thorman had a hit and Decter a run batted.
Wright, Worthington and DeCounter scored one run apiece.
Macomb used three pitchers. Worthington pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on four hits. He struck out one and walked one.
Duncan Jones pitched one inning, allowing three earned runs on two hits, walking three.
Thorman pitched 2.2 innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits. He struck out one and walked three.
Sitting at 3-1, Macomb had to wait until Wednesday to see if it would be one of the final four teams advancing to Thursday’s semifinals.
Ridge Beverly was the lone unbeaten team, finishing 4-0. Macomb was one of five teams that finished with 3-1 records. The next tiebreaker was runs allowed.
Brookfield and Elmhurst both allowed 10 runs. Olney allowed 13, followed by Macomb with 15 and Marshall with 23.
The semifinals were set for Thursday as Ridge Beverly faced Olney, while Brookfield played Elmhurst.
The championship game was scheduled for Friday evening.
