The Atmore 15U Babe Ruth All-Stars finished the 2012 season in the semifinals of the state tournament in Satsuma last weekend, going to 2-2 on the tournament as a whole.

Atmore got off to a slow start with a 9-2 loss to the Mims All-Stars Saturday. The All-Stars were outscored 7-0 through four innings of play before runs from Aaron McDonald in the fifth inning and Trey Weeks in the sixth got them on the board. But two more late-game runs from Mims would put the victory out of Atmore’s reach, leaving them with a 0-1 start on the weekend.

Atmore bounced back in Saturday’s second game, knocking off the West Alabama All-Stars in a close, 3-1 decision. The victory came off two runs from Tristan McAnally and a single score from Trey Weeks. Outstanding defense held West Alabama to one run, handing Atmore their first win of the tourney.

Atmore continued to look good Sunday as they blew out the Sylacauga All-Stars in a 10-0 victory.

McAnally got Atmore on the board with a run in the second inning, followed by scores from Tanner Smith, Chasin Freeman and Newt Lambert to put the All-Stars up 4-0 heading into the third inning.

Fourth inning scores from Lambert, Aaron McDonald and Andrew Edwards extended Atmore’s lead to 7-0 and a fifth inning score from Freeman left Sylacauga struggling to play catch up. Sixth inning scores from McAnally and Weeks put the contest out of reach for Sylacauga and cemented Atmore’s second win of the tournament.

Despite Atmore’s hot streak, the wins, and the tournament, would come to an end for the All-Stars Monday in a semifinal match up with the Alexander City All-Stars.

Atmore struck first with a second-inning score from Smith to go up 1-0 and added a run from Weeks in the second, but three Alex City scores would leave the All-Stars trailing by one heading into the fourth inning.

Atmore’s strong defense threw up a wall for much of the late-game action, but Alex City would find a way to break through in the sixth inning, scoring five runs and keeping Atmore off the board, handing them an 8-2 loss in the double elimination tournament.