Pool 'A' Standings |
W |
L |
Runs Allowed |
Toccoa |
4 |
0 |
15 |
Murphey Candler American |
3 |
1 |
33 |
Cartersville |
2 |
2 |
36 |
Midway/Scottdale |
1 |
3 |
70 |
Bryan County |
0 |
4 |
44 |
|
Pool 'B' Standings |
W |
L |
Runs Allowed |
Columbus Northern |
4 |
0 |
14 |
Walton County National |
3 |
1 |
39 |
Martinez Evans American |
2 |
2 |
31 |
Warner Robins American East |
1 |
3 |
41 |
Brooks Area |
0 |
4 |
26 |
The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinal round.
Ties are broken based on records in head-to-head competition among tied teams. If a clear winner cannot be determined from head-to-head results, the tie is broken by calculating the ratio of runs allowed to defensive innings played for all teams involved in the tie. The team with the lowest runs-per-defensive-inning ratio advances.
In the event of a tie involving three or more teams, once the initial tie is broken, the remaining tied teams are again compared on head-to-head record to determine if a clear winner can be identified. If no clear winner can be identified from head-to-head results among the remaining tied teams, the runs-per-defensive-inning ratio is again used. This process is repeated until all ties have been broken.
Semifinal Round (Friday, July 30)
Toccoa 9, Walton County National 5
Columbus Northern 15, Murphey Candler American 5
Georgia State Championship Game (Saturday, July 31)
Columbus Northern 11, Toccoa 4 (TITLE)
Summary:
It was clear entering the championship game of the 2010 Georgia state tournament that fans should expect plenty of offense. Columbus Northern Little League entered the game having scored more than 13 runs per game in its five state tournament contests, including a 15-5 thrashing of Murphey Candler National Little League in the semifinal round. Toccoa Little League posted similar numbers: the District 7 titlists averaged 14 runs per game, and like Columbus Northern, scored at least nine runs in each state tournament outing.
Both teams delivered again in the title game -- Northern with a ten hit attack, and Toccoa with three home runs. But Columbus pitcher Jacob Pate minimized the damage from Toccoa's long balls by surrendering just one other hit in his 5-2/3 innings of work. Northern went on to defeat Toccoa, 11-4, and claim the Georgia state championship at Double Churches Park in Columbus. With the win, Northern's third Georgia championship in the major baseball division in a seven-year span, the Columbus league advanced to the Southeastern Region tournament in Warner Robins, Georgia. Columbus Northern later won that tournament, and advanced to the Little League World Series.
Northern opened the scoring in the first inning, when they scored four runs with two outs. Kobie Buglioli delivered a run-scoring single, and Troy Gilliland followed with his second three-run home run in as many games. The District 8 champions added two more in the second on a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice, but Toccoa stayed within striking distance thanks to a solo home run from Ben Cleveland and a two-run shot by Caleb Lowery.
"We had to just keep scoring runs," said veteran Northern manager Randy Morris. "(Toccoa) is a good team, and they can hit anything we throw at them, so I challenged our guys to score every inning."
Northern rose to its manager's challenge by producing runs in five of its offensive innings, and slowly pulled away. The locals added three runs in the fourth, and single runs in the game's final two innings. Toccoa answered with Kooper Briley's solo shot in the fifth, but Northern's constant barrage sealed the win.
Six different Columbus players had hits in the game. Knox Carter delivered three hits, scored twice, and drove in three runs, while Blake Hicks collected two hits and scored three times. Pate also contributed a pair of hits.
Northern came into the tournament as one of the clear favorites, in part because of the league's international tournament success in recent years -- Northern had won the Little League World Series in 2006, and had been the state runner-up in 2009. But Morris tempered any comparisons between his 2010 team and prior Northern squads.
"Every team is different," said the Columbus manager on the eve of the tournament. "We just want the boys to play hard and do their best.
"We take it one game at a time," he added. "We don't look past the next game."
A big step for Northern was its state tournament opener, when the Columbus team downed Warner Robins American East Little League, 9-2, in a rematch of the 2009 state championship game. Buglioli opened the scoring with a three-run shot in the first, and Northern added two more in the second on Zac Cravens' solo home run and Pate's run-scoring single.
Pate struck out six and blanked Warner Robins for three innings, and Columbus added four more in the sixth. Matthew Lay led off the inning with a pinch-hit home run, and Brandon Pugh delivered a two-run double before later scoring himself.
"We played good (and) got timely hits in key at-bats," noted Morris. "(In our next game) we have to play hard and smart, and see what happens."
In each of Northern's next three contests, what followed was double-digit offense. Northern pulled away late to shake off Brooks Area, 12-7, then cruised past Martinez-Evans American Little League, 15-5. In their final pool contest, Northern slammed four home runs and eased past previously unbeaten Walton County National Little League, 18-0. Hicks, Pugh, Carter, and Buglioli all cleared the fences in the win.
"Hitting is contagious," said Morris. "So we try to tell the kids to feed off each other."
Toccoa's offense was equally in-form throughout the tournament, as the District 7 winners defeated its first three pool opponents by ten or more runs and then muscled past Cartersville Little League, 11-7, in its final pool contest. Cleveland homered twice and drove in six runs against Cartersville, while Blake Walker homered and collected three hits. The team's earlier wins included a 19-6 win over Murphey Candler American in which the team scored ten runs in the first inning, and also a 24-2 decision over Midway/Scottdale Little League.
Toccoa then slammed four home runs, including two by Briley and one each from Cleveland and Blake Walker, in their 9-5 semifinal round win over Walton County National. Northern, meanwhile, capitalized on three-run homers from the bats of Gilliland and Jack Tanner in its 15-5, four inning win over Murphey Candler National.
"We haven't done anything yet," Morris cautioned following the win. "We still have work to do if we don't want to finish second."
His team finished their work the next day, pressing the offensive attack and capturing the state championship flag with its win over Toccoa. Northern's 11-run scoreline represented the most in a Georgia state championship game since Buckhead Little League scored 16 runs in the 1997 final.
Two weeks later, Columbus Northern defeated Viera/Suntree Little League (Melbourne, Florida) by a 9-2 score in the Southeastern Region championship game at Little League Baseball's newly opened Southeastern Region headquarters in Warner Robins, Georgia. The win catapulted Northern into the Little League World Series, where Northern opened with a pair of victories before eventually finishing second in its pool and among the final four U.S. teams remaining in the tournament.
Follow Columbus Northern at the Southeastern Region Tournament -- Click here to view results.
Linescores:
Championship Game |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
R |
H |
E |
Columbus Northern |
4 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
11 |
10 |
- |
Toccoa |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
4 |
4 |
- |
|
|
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Last revision: 06/11/2011