By By Matthew Nascone
Tournament time can bring happiness or sadness to a team. The Atmore 12-year-old tournament team competed in the 2006 Cal Ripken District Tournament June 17. Atmore walked away from Matthews Park in Mobile after a tough loss to the team from Grand Bay in their second game.
The two teams played at 4 p.m. on June 17 and Atmore manager Chris Kirk said the teams were equally matched, but his squad just made some mistakes. But Kirk said the game was a great effort by Atmore.
Atmore opened the game with a strong first inning as Jaylen Henry reached on a single and scored as Tanner Kirk singled to center field. But Grand Bay scored six runs in the second inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
The third inning saw two Atmore runners cross the plate to close the gap to 6-3. James Dean singled in Henry and Nicholas Linam singled to left field to score Dean.
Grand Bay added another run in the third to widen the lead to 7-3, but Atmore answered in the top of the fourth with two runs. Dean tripled with one out to plate Brian Rolin and Kirk got his second RBI of the night with a single to left field, scoring Dean.
Dean and Kirk were 2-for-4 on the night.
Grand Bay added one more run in the fifth for a final of 8-5. Dean, Dustin Wilson and Linam all saw action on the mound.
Atmore was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.
Matthews 11 – Atmore 1
In the opening game of the tournament Atmore did not get a hit until the fourth and final inning, but manager Chris Kirk said there was a reason for that.
"They had Nolan Ryan on the mound against us," he said. "The guy was throwing in the 70s from 45 feet. He was unreal, but we did manage to score a run when they took him out and that was good for the guys."
James Dean scored the only run for Atmore in the fourth inning after he reached on a single and was driven home by Nicholas Linam. Atmore could not overcome the pitcher on the mound and a seven-run first inning by the team from Matthews.
Tanner Kirk, Dean and Linam all threw one inning on the mound for Atmore.
10 year olds
Semmes 13 – Atmore 0
The Atmore 10-year-old tournament team was not able to muster a run across the plate against the Semmes squad June 18 and was eliminated from the Cal Ripken District tournament. Bo Bishop got two hits for Atmore and Anthony Matthews, Hunter Dettling and Brice McGhee each grabbed one hit for the game.
Atmore 9 – Grand Bay 8
Atmore jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Bo Bishop and Malcolm Black each crossed the plate. Grand Bay took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first and pushed the lead to 6-2 with a three-run second inning.
Atmore closed the gap to 6-4 in the third inning as Tyler Sanspree and Justin Hiebert each scored one run. Wesley Jefferson and Matthew Quimby scored in the fourth inning for Atmore and Grand Bay answered with one run in the bottom of the inning making the score 7-6.
Atmore tied the score at 7-7 when Hiebert scored his second run of the game in the fifth inning. They then took the lead for the first time in the sixth inning as Hunter Dettling and Brice McGhee crossed the plate. Grand Bay scored one in the bottom of the inning, but could not put another across, giving Atmore the victory.
Boykin 14 – Atmore 2
Kyler McGlothern and Anthony Matthews each scored a run for Atmore June 16 in the opening game of the tournament. A strong first inning helped the team from Boykin to victory.