Tallahassee lives up to billing, wins division

Aug. 20, 2008: Tallahassee second baseman Jackson Kittrell catches a pop fly in the outfield in the top of the first inning against Syracuse, N.Y., in the Babe Ruth 14-year-old World Series at Adams Field in Quincy. Lisa Bul photo/The Patriot Ledger

By MIKE LOFTUS
The Patriot Ledger

QUINCY –  This is more like it.

Tallahassee, Florida’s 14-year-old Babe Ruth baseball team has more than erased the sting of a 2-1, opening-night upset loss to tournament host Quincy.

The Southeast Regional champions – many of them members of last year’s national 13-year-old Ruth championship team – won their third straight game Wednesday, locking up the No. 1 seed in the American Division of the Babe Ruth Word Series by pulling away from Syracuse, N.Y., 12-1.

“We’re happy with the way we’re hitting right now,” said manager Mike Harrison, whose team has outscored its foes, 32-5, since Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Quincy, “and obviously, we’ve been happy with the way we’re pitching.”

Wednesday’s game was more of a pitcher’s duel than the final score indicates.

Tallahassee held only a 3-1 lead when it came to the plate in the top of the sixth inning, and played small ball after inning-opening singles from Michael Ware and Landon Hoffman.

Jackson Kittrell bunted both runners along, and Paxson Smith’s sacrifice fly made it 4-1.

Syracuse pitchers never retired another batter. Eight straight Tallahassee batters reached base with two out, and the string didn’t end until Kittrell got caught in a rundown after a two-run double in his second at-bat of the inning.

“We had it in our mind that we wanted a couple more runs” at the start of the inning, Kittrell said, “and then we just kept going with two outs.”

Syracuse, 0-2 after a 2-0 start in pool play, still earned the No. 3 seed in the American Division, and faces Nederland, Texas, at 8 p.m. in today’s quarterfinals.
 
   
Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com.