West Alabama Babe Ruth 13U claims state title in dramatic fashion, 9-8

After cruising through the first three games by outscoring opponents 40-4, the West Alabama Babe Ruth 13U baseball team found itself trailing Tallassee, 8-5, after five innings. West Alabama was able to rally for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, then hold Tallassee scoreless to claim the 13U state title with the 9-8 win.

After plating five runs in the bottom of the first inning, the West Alabama bats went cold. Tallassee plated a single run in the top of the second, then rallied to put seven on the board in the top of the fifth to claim an 8-5 lead over the top seed. After the 95-pitch limit rule forced the removal of Tallassee’s starting pitcher after five innings, West Alabama went to work in the bottom of the sixth.

J.W. McAlpine was hit by a pitch to get the inning started. Braden Murray advanced McAlpine to second on a single to left. McAlpine and Murray advanced to third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch. Colton Colgrove picked up a single, scoring McAlpine and advancing Murray to third. (West Alabama trailed 8-6.) Jackson Hasty singled to center, scoring Murray and advancing Colgrove to second. (West Alabama trailed 8-7.) After an infield fly rule handed West Alabama its first out of the inning, Bryant Deas was hit by a Tallassee pitch, which advanced Colgrove to third and Hasty to second.

And this is where it got interesting. Tucker Capps hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Colgrove. (Game is now tied 8-8.) On the throw to the plate to attempt to get Colgrove, Hasty headed to third. An error on the throw to third allowed Hasty to score the go-ahead run just before Deas was tagged out advancing to third – a call which was passionately protested by West Alabama manager and third base coach Andy Phillips.

In the top of the seventh, Tallassee’s first two batters sent fly balls to Capps in center and Murray made a sliding catch in left for the final out, giving West Alabama the 9-8 victory for the state title.

West Alabama ended the game with 10 hits. Murray and Colgrove tallied two hits each. Bryce McElroy, McAlpine, Capps, Braxton Vice, Hasty and Jack Pritchett collected one hit each. Bumgarner went 4-1/3 innings on the mound, collecting seven strikeouts and issuing one walk. McAlpine completed 2-2/3 innings on the mound, collecting two strikeouts and two walks and picked up the win. West Alabama committed four errors, which contributed to five unearned runs for Tallassee.