Red Sox hold off Yankees for championship

By Myra Bean

The American Legion summer season was decided on a five-run fifth inning by the Red Sox to take the number one spot over the Yankees.

The score was tied at three going into the bottom of the fifth. The home team Red Sox turned up the heat on relief pitcher Colby Gammill and scored three runs on him.

Starting pitcher Ryan Maxwell relieved Gammill after he hit one with a pitch and walked two.

For the Red Sox, the first seven batters got on base and the first five worked their way around to score.

Jamie Jones singled and drove home Austin Smith who was hit by a pitch to get on base. With the bases loaded, Bobby Epps’ walk drove home Banks Brasell. Still with the bases loaded, Colby Runnels singled to drive home Brad O’Regan who had walked. Taylor Rotenberry’s single drove home Jones. Matt Hendrix hit a sacrifice fly to center field which drove home Epps for the final score.

To get the scoring going for the Red Sox in the first inning, Epps walked and stole second base to get into scoring position. Runnels singled and drove home Epps. Runnels stole second and third bases and scored on a passed ball for the second run in the first inning.

Rotenberry doubled in the fourth inning and got to third base on a passed ball. Jake Rogers grounded out to second, which allowed Rotenberry to score.

Rotenberry relieved Hendrix in the fourth inning and picked up the win. Maxwell took the loss for the Yankees.

The Yankees scored first in the first inning. Chris Brown got on base with a single. He made it to second and third on a passed ball and a stolen base, respectively.

Ethan Waldrip grounded out to the pitcher and Brown scored.

The Yankees tied up the score in the third inning. Waldrip got on base and scored on a Maxwell single RBI (run batted in).

The Yankees retook the lead in the fourth inning. Gammill singled and stole second, third and home to score.

After the Red Sox tied the game in the fourth and retook the lead in the fifth, the Yankees had one more shot in the top of the sixth.

They were able to score two runs, but could not undo the five-run fifth by the Red Sox.

In the top of the sixth, Gammill scored his second run of the night on a passed ball. He walked to get on base and stole third base.

Spencer Holland walked to get on base and scored on a passed ball for the final run of the evening.

Hitting for the Red Sox were Epps, two walks; Runnels, two singles; Rotenberry, one double, one single; Austin Smith, one single, one hit by pitch; Banks Brasell, one walk; O’Regan, one walk and Jones, one single.

Hitting for the Yankees were Brown, one single, one hit by pitch; Waldrip, two singles; Maxwell, three singles; Gammill, one single, one walk; Holland, one walk and Sean King, two walks.

In the night cap Tuesday, the Royals and the A’s battled for third and fourth place. The Royals won 8-6. The winning pitcher was Wesley Gregg and the loss went to J.W. Willis.

Gregg hit a homerun at the end of the game over the right field fence. Hitting for the Royals were Lee Self, Brian Mullins and Wesley Gregg. Hitting for the A’s were Zack Horne, Blake Snyder and Daniel Gaines.

Coach Robert Lightsey presented Red Sox team and coach David Smith with the first place trophy and medals for all the players, and the second place trophy went to the Yankees coach Brandon Kizer and players.

Gwin Jackson contributed to this article.