Published: July 18, 2008 10:38 am            

South London headed to State Tournament

By Jimbo Collins / Staff Writer

South London will represent District 4 in the State Little League Tournament 11/12-year-old division. The team won its way into the tournament by going undefeated through the first round and beating Tri-Cities in Harlan this week for the District 4 Championship.

We have played well,” South London coach Scott Gaines said. “We have hit the ball well and played solid defense. We have had some solid pitching. We hit the ball well against the Jenkins kid from Tri-Cities and he is a pretty good pitcher.”

Gaines said his team has had good hitting, good pitching and solid defense. He believes that combination equals success on any level.

“Our pitching has been really good,” Gaines said. “Out of five games we have given up six runs. Tri-Cities scored two on us the first time we played them and then they scored four runs on us in the last game. We shut everyone else out.

“Our pitchers have been hitting their spots and changing speeds well,” he added. “We didn’t make a lot of errors in the tournament. We only had like three or four errors in the tournament.”

The state tournament kicks off today with opening ceremonies at Valley Sports Little League in Louisville. South London will take the field Saturday at 3:45 p.m. against Lexington Eastern.

The team from Laurel County will meet Louisville St. Matthews at 3:45 p.m. Sunday and will play defending State Champion Bowling Green East at 9 a.m. Monday.

“We’re in a really tough bracket,” Gaines said. “From the looks of it, we may be in the toughest bracket. I think we have as good a shot as anybody else to win the tournament. We will have to continue to have our pitchers hit their spots and mix up their speeds well, and we have to get good hitting.”

Gaines does have confidence in his team. He believes everyone on the team is doing things right and thinks they can make a run for the championship.

“I can’t really single anyone out,” Gaines said. “Everyone has been playing well and contributing. Everyone in the line-up is hitting well. It has been a total team effort. Everyone has been getting hits and making plays when we need them.”

        

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