12u Babe Ruth

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on June 24, 2010 1:47 PM

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Every player who took the field for the Wayne County Babe Ruth 12u baseball championship left with a trophy.

Dylan Harrison also walked off with a story that will last a lifetime.

Harrison belted a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Northeast Blue topped Eastern Wayne 6-5 to claim the season-ending tournament championship at Grantham.

"That is an amazing way to win a game," said Northeast head coach Jeff Smith. "Both teams played really well and it ended up with our side getting the last big hit."

Each team had several big hits.

Northeast pulled ahead 3-0 in the top of the first on back-to-back singles from Harrison and Caleb Smith. With one out, Northeast drew four walks and added a run on a productive groundout by Jamison Richards.

Eastern Wayne pulled even one inning later when Michael Wiggins was hit by a pitch and Cody Martin blasted a two-run home run over the center field fence. Dylan Newsome reached on a walk and scored the tying run on a Northeast error.

Eastern Wayne took a 5-3 lead in the top of the third inning when Wiggins walked and advanced on Martin's fielder's choice. A second Northeast error allowed both runners to score.

Northeast tied the game with a run in the third and an additional run in the fourth. After each team missed an opportunity to take the lead in the fifth, Harrison stepped up to the plate to lead off the sixth.

On the second pitch of his at-bat, Harrison sat back and waited to drive the offering into the outfield. To everyone's surprise, the ball sailed over the fence and ended the contest in a flash.

"That is a tough way to lose a game, on one pitch," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jack Newsome. "These guys have done a good job all season and the good thing is that we have eight guys coming back for next season."

Charlie Robertson tossed four innings of relief to get the mound win for Northeast. Robertson also delivered a solo home run.