The Carthage Blue Sox recently captured the 2009 USSSA Missouri state championship at Tiffany Hills Sports Complex.
By winning the USSSA Missouri state title, this group has won three state championships, including the 11-year-old Little League Missouri state championship in 2006 and the 12-year-old Little League Missouri state championship in 2007, advancing to the Regional Little League Tournament at Indianapolis, Ind.
The USSSA Missouri State Championship Tournament, comprised of 36 of the top AA teams across the state, began Thursday, June 18.
The Blue Sox came into the tournament ranked No. 8 in the state based upon their record and power rating.
In the state championship, the Blue Sox defeated JCBI of Jefferson City, 16-14, in a slugfest.
Carthage, backed by a solo home run by Drew Bridges, scored 10 runs in the first two innings before JCBI struck for 10 runs to tie the game.
Cade Harris led off the third with a walk and scored on Dalton Stafford’s RBI double. Seth Beckner followed with a two-run home run to put Carthage in front.
JCBI scored twice in the bottom of the third, but Carthage answered with a run in the fourth. With a two-run lead heading into the seventh inning, Mouton and Beckner reached base on a pair of singles. Bridges scored Mouton and Doubet plated Beckner with a suicide squeeze, giving Carthage a four-run lead, 16-12, going into the bottom of the seventh.
JCBI scored a pair of runs, but sparkling defensive play, including a game-ending double play, secured the championship for the Blue Sox.
The exhausted pitching staff for Carthage included Beckner, who lasted 1 1/3 innings before turning the ball over to Harris. Stafford threw 5 1/3 innings, permitting eight hits while striking out one.
The Blue Sox went undefeated through the state championship tournament and batted .430 as a team, with a staff ERA of 1.14.
The Blue Sox opened pool play with a 17-0 victory in four innings over the PC Titans out of Platte City.
Offensively, Beckner, with two hits including a double, a home run and 3 RBIs, led the Blue Sox, who put together a 13-hit attack. Miles Goade went 2-for-2, Johnny Mills went 2-for-3 with a double, and Keaton Giett had two hits. Bridges, who gave up only one hit and struck out eight batters, earned the win for the Blue Sox.
Carthage defeated the Blue Springs Indians, 8-2, on Friday with Goade, Mills, Giett, Nathan Reid and Jonathan Terry all collecting two hits each.
Alec Doubet tossed four innings for Carthage, yielding three hits and striking out eight. Harris pitched the final two innings, allowing no hits and striking out one.
The Blue Sox closed out pool play with a 10-5 win over the Blue Springs Wranglers.
Trailing 3-2 in the top of the fifth, The Blue Sox rallied for eight runs on six hits to take the lead before holding off Blue Spring’s late rally. Beckner, with a strike to the plate, gunned down a runner trying to score from second base to squelch the rally.
Stafford pitched the first two innings for Carthage before turning the ball over to Harris for the final four innings. The duo gave up only four hits and struck out five to help advance the Blue Sox, who earned the No. 7 seed and a first-round bye, to single- elimination play, which began Saturday, June 20.
The Blue Sox, after breaking a 4-4 tie, defeated the Sedalia Blue Sox, 6-5, through rain and inclement playing conditions.
Carthage rallied in the bottom of the fifth with two runs, thanks in large part to Bridge’s double to give Carthage a 6-4 lead.
Sedalia manufactured a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut Carthage’s lead to one, 6-5, but Doubet worked out of a jam in the seventh to secure the win.
In the Elite 8, Bridges pitched the first 3 2/3 innings for Carthage, giving up five hits and striking out two. Doubet pitched the final 3 1/3 innings, giving up two hits and striking out three.
Carthage defeated Southside Baseball Club of Columbia, 7-5. Ironically, Southside was the club Carthage defeated for the 11-year-old State championship in 2006 at Hillsboro.
The Blue Sox, who found themselves down 5-3 heading into the top of the sixth inning, pulled within one run after Beckner hit a solo home run.
Mills led off the seventh with a double and Terry drove in Mills with an RBI single, tying the game up.
With the score tied in the eighth, Stafford reached first on single with one out and advanced to second on a passed ball. Beckner scored Stafford with an RBI double before Bridges drove in Beckner with an RBI single to give the Blue Sox a 7-5 lead.
In the semifinal, the Blue Sox knocked around the Stasi Sports Cubs of Kansas City, who were the No. 1 ranked team in the state of Missouri entering the state tournament.
The Blue Sox scored 15 runs in four innings to silence the Cubs. The Blue Sox, who had a team average of .519 against the Cubs, finished with 14 hits. Bridges tossed three innings for Carthage and Beckner pitched the fourth for a combined no-hit performance by the Carthage duo.
