‘The Rock” Keeps Rollin’ In World Series
By Ed Pierce // August 14, 2012
South Beaches Needs Win Tonight
TAYLOR, MICHIGAN – The Rockledge All-Stars continued on a magical carpet ride Monday, rallying to knock off North Canton, Ohio in the Junior League Baseball World Series at Heritage Park.
North Canton was leading 5-0 going into the third inning, but Kevin Clanton of Rockledge connected on a grand slam that whittled the deficit to 5-4.
Rockledge’s Gavin Spinneweber tied the game at 5-5 on an RBI-double in the fifth inning, but BNortrh canton answered with a go-ahead run to take a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning.
The score remained 6-5 in favor of North Canton until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Rockledge’s Blake Beyel hit a single and advanced to third base on a double by Drew Parrish. Kevin Clanton was intentionally walked to load the bases for Michael Hall.
Hall drove a North Canton pitch deep to left-center field for a double, plating Beyel and Parrish to hand Rockledge a 7-6 cme-from-behind victory.
With the win, Rockledge improves to 18-0 in All-Stars competition this year.
Rockledge (2-0 Pool A) will meet the U.S. Western Regional champion Manhattan Beach, Calif. (0-2 Pool A) in its third pool game at 2 p.m. today.
Senior Division
Shrugging off a tough 4-3 loss in their first Senior League Baseball World Series pool game in Bangor, Maine, the South Beaches/West Melbourne All-Stars will take on Southwest Regional champion University Park of Houston, Texas at 8 p.m. tonight at Mansfield Stadium.
To get past University Park, South Beaches/West Melbourne Manager John Phillips will need a big game from batting star Carson Jackson and pitching ace Jake Walsh.
University Park is 2-0 in Pool B and tied for first with Lemon Grove, Calif. (2-0), so a South Beaches/West Melbourne win tonight would help the team’s chances of advancing out of pool play.
The top two teams in Pool B qualify for the Senior League Baseball World Series semifinals Friday.
