Both Middlesboro and Pineville-Bell 8-10s had a rough time in the area tournament over the weekend. Neither team could secure a spot in the district tournament with Pineville-Bell falling in the area championship on Saturday. Middlesboro needed a victory on Sunday against Williamsburg to stay alive in the tournament and play in Monday’s elimination game.

June 29

Pineville-Bell vs. Middlesboro

The two local teams kicked off the area tournament on Friday. In what was a high scoring affair, Pineville-Bell was able to walk away with the 16-12 victory and advance to the area championship game.

Kordell Partin and Deakon Partin led things off scoring two runs after both were hit by pitches to give Pineville-Bell a 2-0 lead. Malaki Coots cut the deficit to 2-1 after scoring a run in the second.

Pineville-Bell began pulling away in the third inning scoring five runs at the hands of Kordell Partin, Deakon Partin, Chase Widener, Kaleb Miller and Reese Arno. The rally increased their lead to 7-1 heading into the bottom half of the third.

Middlesboro was able to stay within reaching distance after runs by Jayden Simpson and Coots narrowed the deficit to 7-3.

Pineville-Bell added three runs in the fourth to widen the margin to 10-3.

Middlesboro gained some momentum in the bottom half of the fourth tying the game at 10-10 after a seven-run rally. Blake Marsee scored the game-tying run.

The happiness was short lived as Pineville strung together six runs of their own in the fifth inning to balloon their lead to 16-10. Middlesboro scored two runs in the bottom half of the fifth to cut the final deficit to four runs.

June 30

Pineville-Bell vs. Knox County

Pineville-Bell had a chance to secure a spot in the district championship on Saturday when they battled Knox County for the area championship. Their hopes were diminished quickly as Knox scored multiple runs in each inning en route to a 16-2 victory.

Knox opened the game with four runs in the first to gain a 4-0 lead. They went on to score three runs in the second and third before going on a six-run rally in the fourth.

Pineville-Bell’s two runs came in the second and third innings. In the second, Ty Mays’ single helped the team score a run. In the third, Logan Stepp scored after reaching on a triple.

July 1

Middlesboro vs. Williamsburg

In order to earn a chance at redemption against Pineville-Bell on Monday, Middlesboro had to survive an encounter with Williamsburg on Sunday. The local all-stars did just that earning an 18-8 victory to advance to the elimination game.

The game remained close throughout the early innings. Runs from Blake Marsee and Malaki Coots gave Middlesboro a 2-0 lead in the first. Williamsburg responded with four runs in the second to take a 4-2 lead. A run by Colt Bayless narrowed the deficit to 4-3 at the end of the second inning.

Williamsburg’s Colton Gobel gave his team a 5-3 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Runs by Evan Moses, Antonio Brown and Gobel gave Williamsburg an 8-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the fourth.

Middlesboro took over the game from there. Proving that pitching is everything in baseball, Middlesboro remained patient and used 13 walks and two singles to go on a 15-run rally in the fourth to secure an 18-8 victory.