Classic closing night

By Staff
Kim West
Franklin County Times
Last Thursday I had the opportunity to cover the Russellville Farm League tournament, and as one parent pointed out, it was a great night to watch kids play baseball.
The first game I watched was a semifinal game between the Yankees and Royals. In professional baseball, the Yankees are known for being the team with a bulls-eye on their pinstriped backs, but in the Russellville Farm League, the Royals were the team to beat in the tournament after winning the regular-season championship with an undefeated record.
The Yankees took a first-inning 1-0 lead on an RBI single to left field by Dilan Saint to score Trennis Hester, but the Royals tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on an RBI double by Devin Buckhalter to bring in Cameron Vandiver. The Royals increased their 3-1 lead with five runs in the third and five more in the fourth to advance to the championship game.
The Pirates, who beat the regular season runners-up Giants in the other semifinal matchup, earned the chance to bring down the Royals, and nearly pulled off a thrilling upset by scoring six runs in the in fifth inning to tie the game at 14-14. But the Royals won the tournament title 15-14 on an RBI single by Lucas McNutt in the bottom of the sixth finish the year with a perfect 16-0 record.
"As far as the Farm League goes, the championship game was probably the best one of the year," said Richie Malone, Russellville Little League president. "This is my tenth year involved in the league, and the Royals had one of the strongest Farm League teams I've ever seen, from top to bottom in their lineup."
The Russellville Little League fields three age divisions – the Farm League (ages 6-8), Minor League (9-10) and Major League (11-12). The Farm League closes its season with a championship tournament, while the Minor League and Major League coaches name three All-Star teams (ages 9-10, 10-11 and 11-12), which compete in the district tournament against Sheffield, Phil Campbell and two teams from Tuscaloosa.
Last summer, all three Russellville All-Star teams won the district championship and advanced to the state tournament. This year's district tournaments will be hosted by Sheffield on June 28 (9-10 All-Stars), July 3 (10-11 All-Stars) and July 5 (11-12 All-Stars).
"Our numbers were up this year, and we had a couple more teams than last year," said Malone. "We'd love to have even more players next year, and we will try to send out plenty of notice for registration.
"We encourage everyone to come and support the local teams during the district tournament. There is no admission charged at Little Leagues games – this is an all-volunteer league – but we do take up donations to help cover costs."
Kim West is sports editor for The Franklin County Times. She can be reached at kim.west@fct.wpengine.com or (256) 332-1881, ext. 30.