Championship showdown

By Staff
Russellville 9-10 All-Stars play sixth straight game, fall to Huntsville-Eastern 13-5 in state finals
Kim West
HUNTSVILLE – The Russellville 9-10 All-Stars came within two wins of advancing to the national Little League tournament in West Virginia before falling 13-5 in the state tournament championship round to Huntsville-Eastern at Fern Bell Park Thursday night.
Russellville reached the championship by winning four straight games in four nights after an 8-0 tourament opening win over Phenix City Saturday and a 3-2 loss Sunday to Huntsville-Eastern in the double-elimination tournament.
"I was proud of them for all their hard work in the last four weeks," Russellville manager Randy Seal said. "They've had a lot of two-a-day practices, and they had to play six nights in a row.
"They showed a lot of character and heart tonight by scoring a run when it was 11-1 to keep the game going and then scoring three more runs in the fifth to extend the game to a full six innings."
Huntsville-Eastern (4-0) broke open a 3-1 lead in the third inning with eight runs on seven hits. Huntsville also scored a run in the fifth and sixth innings.
Russellville, which defeated Jackson 7-4 Wednesday to advance to the finals, scored a run in the first and third innings and three runs in the fifth.
Joshua Seal and Reed Smith each went 2-for-3, and Smith also hit a three-run homer. Samuel Evans drove in two runs, and Austin Kitterman went 2-for-2. Evans, Cody Greenhill and Trey Williams, Taylor Vincent each had a hit for Russellville (4-2).
Seal said he expects this team to only improve after winning eight games in the District 6 and state tournaments and outscoring opponents 95-31 in 10 games.
"This was the first time for most of these players to play together, and I think you'll see a lot more of this team in the future," Seal said.