Wakulla 12U Allstars are Top Seed in Cal Ripken World Series National League

The Wakulla 12U Allstars had another big win in Game 4 of pool play in the Cal Ripken World Series in Van Buren, Arkansas, defeating Bridgewater, New Jersey 7 to 4 on Monday, August 13.  Wakulla will now advance to the next level as the top seed in the National League.  They will play their next game on Wednesday, August 15, at 9:00 EST in the single elimination round of play.  (Pictured at left:  Jay Estes makes a great play at 2nd base.)

In spite of 103 degree temperatures, Wakulla came alive early in the game scoring a homerun in the top of the first inning.  Bridgewater remained scoreless during the first inning, making the score 1 to 0 Wakulla at the top of the 2nd inning.

Wakulla brought  2 runners home on walks during the 2nd inning, and again kept Bridgewater scoreless by striking out the first player at bat and forcing two outs at second base.

The third inning brought no runs for Wakulla, but promised to be fruitful for Bridgewater as they scored what would be their only 4 runs of the game.

{sidebar id=1}The biggest play of the game would take place in the top of the 4th inning as Wakulla had a three run homerun, putting Wakulla back on top with the score at 6 - 4.  Bridgewater remained scoreless during the bottom of the 4th inning, and Wakulla was the leader going into the top of the 5th.

Wakulla scored another homerun during the 5th inning on a high fly ball into left field, making the score 7 - 4 Wakulla.  It was three up three down for Bridgewater during the bottom of the 5th inning, and Wakulla remained in the lead going into the 6th inning.  Neither team scored during the 6th inning, and the ballgame ended there with a final score of 7 - 4 Wakulla.

"I think someone buried our bats out behind the motel for the first couple of games, but we finally found them for the last two," said Wakulla Coach Randy Barnes.  "We figured as long as we didn't give up 7 runs tonight, we would be the number one seed for the single elimination round of play."  Barnes added that he was proud of the team for coming back from behind to win the game.  "I was happy to see them come around and get back in the game," said Barnes.  "Our pitcher got stronger as the game went on; I let him call his own game during the last couple of innings."  Barnes ended by saying a big thank you to all the folks back home who are cheering on the team, and also to WAKU 94.1FM, Wave94, for broadcasting the games locally in Wakulla.

According to Barnes, a total of 10 teams were invited to the tournament.  These ten teams were then split into two leagues of five teams each:  The National League, and the American League.  Each team was guaranteed four games during the "pool play" portion of the series, which makes up the first four games.  During pool play, each team plays against other teams within their league.

The bottom four teams are eliminated during pool play, and the remaining 6 teams advance on to the single elimination round.  The number one seeds of both the National League and the American League get to sit out the first day of single elimination play.  Wakulla is the number one seed in the National League, and Lexington, Kentucky is the number one seed in the American League.

The number 2 team in the National League will play the number 3 team in the American League on Tuesday, August 14, and the number 2 team in the American League will play the number 3 team in the National League on August 14, as well.  The winners of these games will play the number one seeds (Wakulla and Lexington) on Wednesday, August 15.  The winners of those games will then face each other for the Championship game on Thursday, August 16.

Wakulla defeated Van Buren, Arkansas 5 - 3 in Game 1 on August 9, then lost to Scottsdale, Arizona 5 - 2 on August 10 in Game 2.   They then came back to beat Scott County, Missouri 13 - 2 on August 12.

Go Wakulla!  We are proud of you!!

Click here for game highlights on WAKU 94.1FM, www.wave94.com!  

Click here for a great photo gallery sent in by Sandy Barnes!  

Publisher's Note:  By request of the Wakulla 12U Allstars coaches, individual team member's names have purposefully been left out of this article to promote the overall team effort.

Above photo courtesy of Sandy Barnes. 

 
This article originally published on August 13, 2007. 

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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