By By Matthew Nascone
The Linden 10 year olds did not stand a chance against the host Atmore 10-year-old all-stars Friday afternoon at Tom Byrne Park. Atmore used home runs by Tanner Smith and Trey McGhee to power past Linden 13-1 in Game 8 of the Alabama Cal Ripken 10-year-old State Tournament.
Smith cracked a two-run home run in the second inning to score the first runs of the game. McGhee drilled a three-run home run in what became a 10-run inning for Atmore in the third inning.
Tristan McAnally went 1-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored. Coby Smith was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Nate Smith was 3-for-3 with three runs scored.
Aaron McDonald went 2-for-2 with a double and one run scored and Brodie Amos and J.P. Sawyer each scored one run.
Tanner Smith pitched three innings for Atmore and struck out seven batters while allowing two hits. He struck out the side in the first inning.
Linden's Carson Huckabee was 1-for-1 in the game with a triple and one run scored.
Atmore 18 Monrovia 8
The host Atmore 10-year-old all-stars picked up a win in grand fashion in their first game of the tournament June 12 at 5 p.m. Atmore took down Monrovia, 18-8 in five innings.
Atmore jumped out to a 14-3 lead after the third inning, but Monrovia denied the mercy rule in the fourth inning by scoring five runs to cut the Atmore lead to 14-8. But Atmore shut them down in the fifth inning and scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Trey McGhee drove in the final two runs with a double and was 2-for-3 in the game with a double and a run. Dalton Daniel and Scott Brantley each went 2-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored. Coby Smith was 2-for-5 with a triple and three runs scored. Brodie Amos and Tristan McAnally each scored three runs and Nate Smith and Tanner Smith each scored one run.
Aaron McDonald scored two runs and threw a complete game on the mound with four strikeouts.
For Monrovia, Grant Kochevar was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Zack Marshall went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and Blake Fitch, Will Sipes, Jordan Joiner and Aaron Davis each scored one run.
Atmore played Friday night at 7 p.m. against Madison and Saturday at 3 p.m. against Coosa. Those results will be in Wednesday's Advance. The semifinal round of the tournament begins at 1 p.m. today and the championship game is at 3 p.m.
If Atmore seeds in the Top 4, they will play today.