Lake Wylie Coach Pitch All Stars battle for firsts

The 2015 Lake Wylie Athletic Association Coach Pitch All Stars set team firsts competing earlier this month in the Little League District 8 Tournament.

The team of 14 was made up of 6 to 8 year olds from LWAA rookie and minor spring baseball divisions. Following tryouts two weeks before the tournament, coaches Ed Bailey, Jon Stewart and Tony Marano held seven practices in 11 days, or 17 hours.

“Over the last seven years, Lake Wylie has posted one win in 2014 with a second-round win coming from the losing brackets,” said head coach Bailey.

In Game 1, Newport jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. LWAA came back to tie it at 2 and took the lead, 3-2, in the next inning and dominated the rest of the game with a 16-4 victory. It was the first Round 1 victory in LWAA Coach Pitch history.

In Game 2, Tega Cay jumped out with a 7-0 lead. Then, LWAA All Stars battled with defense and timely hitting to tie the game. LWW took the lead in the fifth inning and turned a bases-loaded triple play with a line drive caught at third base, then a quick step on third for out No. 2 and a quick throw to second base for out No. 3. LWAA took Tega Cay to extra innings in an 11-11 tie, but came up short. In the bottom of the seventh, Tega Cay took the finish, winning 12-11.

Game 3, elimination round, was LWAA vs. Lancaster. LWAA ended the game with a four-inning mercy rule win (19- 6). Every player on LWAA roster recorded a hit and either scored a run or drove in an RBI.

Two days later because of a rainout, LWAA faced Fort Mill in Game 4, another elimination game. Fort Mill took the lead 5-0, but LWAA game back to tie the game at 5. Unfortunately, LWAA was eliminated.

Bailey said LWAA finished the tournament with a .500 winning percentage, scored 53 runs (with a more than 21 run differential), recorded a first round win, and won two games. Team members were Dawson Parton, Anthony Marano, George Stewart, Trey Moore, Zacharias Krause, Vinnie Davis, Brad Pieloch, Carson Politsch, Van Zieverink, Holden Long, Wilken Gray, Mason Nighbor, Logan Bundy and Gus Bailey.

“This team was blessed with amazing young players, coaches who brought out every ounce of player potential combined with tremendous parents who helped on and off the field,” Bailey said. “For a few weeks, this was a great baseball family.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Lake Wylie Coach Pitch All Stars battle for firsts."