LAUREL, Miss. – Ty Huie hit a two-run home run as Paris got off to an early 3-0 lead, but Terrebonne, La., used five home runs to come roaring back for an 10-4 victory Wednesday night to capture the championship of the Dixie Majors World Series.
Three teams went into Wednesday’s championship round with one loss. Louisiana won a coin flip for a bye and watched A 5 p.m. game between Paris and tournament host Laurel, Miss., won in extra innings by Paris, 2-1.
In the championship game that followed at 8 p.m., Louisiana got its first home run in the third for a 3-3 tie. Paris went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the third, but Louisiana got a solo homer for a 4-4 tie.
Louisiana followed with a 2-run homer in the fifth to take its first lead of the game.
In the bottom of the fifth, Colby Rose was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Paris. But Louisiana managed to get out of the inning unscathed.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Louisiana added four runs in the ninth to put the game away. There was a single, followed by a home run, and then another single, again followed by a home run.
Paris’ Jeff King, pitching with only three days rest, threw a complete-game 6-5 victory over Florida (Highlands County) on Tuesday to bring the Texas representatives to the final day of the 2012 Dixie Majors World Series.
Later, Louisiana (Terrebonne Parish) defeated previously unbeaten Laurel, Miss., 11-5, leaving both those teams and Paris with one loss each in the 12-team, double-elimination tournament. Terrebonne Parish are 4-and-1, and Laurel is 3-and-1.
After the game, Paris lost a coin flip with Terrebonne Parish for a bye into the championship game on Wednesday night.
Paris will play Laurel at 5 p.m. to determine who plays Terrebonne Parish for the title at 8 p.m.
In Tuesday’s win over Florida, Chase Harvey’s 2-run homer helped Paris to a 4-0 first inning lead, and single runs in the third and fourth innings improved the lead to 6-0. Paris errors helped Florida to score three runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to make it close.
“We have a habit of scoring early and not scoring late.” Paris coach Heath Kennedy said.
Monday, Paris took a four-run lead in the first inning against Laurel, Miss., but couldn’t hold it and eventually lost, 8-7.
It was the second victory of the tournament for King, who went the distance in a 1-0 win for Paris on Saturday’s first day of the tournament.
King kept Florida off balance, scattering seven hits. Two of the five runs were unearned. He walked one and struck out one.
“He wasn’t as sharp as he was the first game, but he didn’t have near as much rest either. The pros don’t pitch on three days’ rest, and it’s tough for a young kid to do it,” Kennedy said.
Florida committed two runs in the inning that enabled Paris to add two more runs, both unearned, after Harvey’s 2-run homer.
Lance Fields and Laytner Kennedy got on via errors, and Corban Taylor walked to load the bases. Colby Rose singled in Fields, leaving the bases loaded, and Paris’ fourth run of the inning scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Warren.
Single runs in the third and fourth innings built Paris’ lead to 6-0 before Florida came back on three runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the seventh. Both late-inning rallies were aided by Paris errors.
Harvey led Paris’ nine-hit attack with the home run and a fourth-inning RBI single. Ty Huie also had two hits, including a double ahead of Taylor’s RBI single in the third.
“It was a good game. Early on, we were flawless. Then we had a little hiccup in the sixth inning and we had another one in the seventh to let them back in the game,” Kennedy said.
“But they were a good team. I’m not taking anything away from them. They hit the ball. Their first four hitters were strong.”
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PARIS ROSTER – Kyle Britt, Chris Cole, Lance Fields, Josh Grant, Chase Harvey, Chris House, Ty Huie, Laytner Kennedy, Jeff King, Cort Raulston, Colby Rose, Chevis Springer, Corban Taylor. and Logan Warren.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Saturday, July 28:
Game 1 — Florida (Highlands County) 8, Arkansas (Camden) 6
Game 2 — South Carolina (North Charleston) 12, Alabama (Opp) 3
Game 3 — Virginia (South Boston) 4, Tennessee (Mount Pleasant) 3
Game 4 — Texas (Paris) 1, North Carolina (Duplin County) 0
Game 5 — Louisiana (Terrebonne Parish) 13, Georgia (Columbia County) 2
Game 6 — Laurel-Jones County, Miss. 3, Hattiesburg, Miss. 1
Sunday, July 29:
Game 7 — Alabama 9, Arkansas 5
Game 8 — North Carolina 6, Tennessee 5
Game 9 — Hattiesburg, Miss. 5, Georgia 3
Game 10 — South Carolina 5, Florida 2
Game 11 — Texas 7, Virginia 0
Game 12 –Laurel, Miss. 2, Louisiana 0
Monday, July 30:
Game 13 — Florida 10, Virginia 0
Game 14 — North Carolina 7, Hattiesburg, Miss. 1
Game 15 — Louisiana 7, Alabama 5
Game 16 — Texas 10, South Carolina 0
Game 17 — Florida 10, North Carolina 3
Game 18 — Louisiana 6, South Carolina 0
Game 19 – Laurel, Miss. 8, Texas 7
Tuesday, July 31:
Game 20 — Texas 6, Florida 5
Game 21 — Louisiana 11, Laurel 5
Wednesday, Aug. 1:
Game 22 — Texas 2, Laurel 1 (8 innings)
Game 23, Championship — 7:30 p.m.: Louisiana 10, Texas 4
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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