Happy Valentines Day Dixie Indians! The Dixie Indians had another successful day, winning both of their games again, and giving them a 4 and 0, undefeated record for the tournament so far. Based upon the posted results, it unofficially looks like they be seeded #2 in Pool 2. Only the Utah Horns, also 4 and 0 had a better runs-allowed record then the Indians in pool 2.
In the 1st inning, the Utah Raiders held the Dixie Indians scoreless and then were able to go up by 1 with a run. The momentum changed in the 2nd inning, with Braxton, Dylan, and Drew all hitting doubles. Taking the score in the Indians favor to 4 to 1. But the Raiders came back to score 3 more in the 2nd inning to tie the game at 4.
The Raiders held the Indians scoreless in the 3rd inning. With KJ now at pitch, it appeared the Raiders had a batter in scoring position when Gavin, at 3rd and Clay Gardner at 2nd turned a double play to clear the bases.
The Raiders battled and had a runner on 1st base. The next batter came up and hit a hard line fly to center field. As the base runner on 1st rounded 2nd, he hesitated slightly and headed to third - but Drew didn't hesitate to throw the ball to Gavin at 3rd, who tagged the Raider out for the 3rd out and keeping the score tied at 4.
The Indians went up by 3 in the 4th inning from strong hitting by Dylan, Evan, and KJ - who slid into 3rd base with a hard ground triple.
Braxton came in as pitch to finish out the final two innings against the Raiders.
With some good defensive plays by Evan at short-stop, Jordan in left field, and Dylan in right field over the next two innings, the Indians only allowed one additional run by the Raiders.
Justice also displayed some good base running, stealing to 3rd on a passed ball and then to home on an overthrow by the catcher. The Dixie Indians finished the game with a winning score of 8 to 5, and clinching a 3 and 0 record for the tournament.
The fourth and last pool game for the Dixie Indians was against the Las Vegas Frozen Ropes. Evan was the starting pitcher and started the 1st inning strong with 3 strike outs. The Indians then drew first blood and scored 2 runs.
The Frozen Ropes were able to score during the 2nd inning while the Indians were getting their 3rd out with a great relay from Drew in center field to Braxton, who had rotated to 2nd, and tagged the player on the slide. The Indians were unable to score in the 2nd inning, yet were still up by 1.
Not to be out-done in the 3rd inning, the Indians battled hard to score 3 runs and go up by 1. The score was now 5 to 4 for the Indians.
The Indians won the game to go 4 and 0!
Friday the 13th proved to be a great day for the Dixie Indians. Superstitions that this is an unlucky date was proved wrong by the perseverance of the Indians who won both of their games. But most importantly they won their second game against the Idaho Falls Red Sox -- a long-time nemesis of the Indians.
The first game was against the Sandlot Baseball Academy. Evan Moss was the starting pitcher and threw hard for three innings. With help from his teammates, he kept the Sandlot boys scoreless.
The Dixie Indians were too much for their opponent with all team members stepping it up. Justice Santiago was strong at the plate, starting with a double in his first at bat and then churning out another later.
Tyler Wardell and Gavin Graff also joined the double-pack with doubles of their own later in the game.
In the 4th inning, KJ Harrison relieved Evan as pitcher. After walking a couple of batters, KJ found his groove and had the Sandlot players finding only air with their bats.
The Dixie Indians captured a 9 to 3 win and turned out a stellar first game with great hitting, fielding, base running, and a great throw from Gavin at catch to Braxton at 1st to tag out a base runner.
- After a two-hour rest period, the Indians took the field as visitors against the Idaho Falls Red Sox. Although temperatures were falling, the Indians' blood was running hot with their eagerness to beat the Red Sox.
With time running out, the Indians were up to bat in the 7th inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Tyler Wardell hit a ground ball which was fielded by the Red Sox who through it to home plate for the force out. But trying to turn a double-play, the Sox catcher threw the ball to 1st base, but overthrew it. Always alert, Coach Danny sent Justice in from 3rd base to tie the score at 2 to 2 on the throwing error.
Get your game ready boys! The President's Day Tournament is this weekend. Friday's games are in Hurricane at 12:30p vs. Sandlot Baseball Academy and 4:30p vs. the Idaho Falls Red Sox. Saturday's games are on our home turf at the Bloomington fields at 4:00p vs. Utah Raiders and 6:00p vs. Las Vegas Frozen Ropes.
Dust off your mitts and bats and let's start the year strong! See you at the ball games...