Emily Williams pitches for Dunn in a 15-4 win over Scotland County.
Two All-Star softball teams from Dunn can wrap up Dixie state championships in Laurinburg today and earn berths for World Series play in their age groups.
The Dunn Ponytails (12-and-under) defeated host Scotland County 15-4 on Tuesday and play Hope Mills at 1 p.m. today to wrap up the state title. Hope Mills would have to beat Dunn twice for the crown.
The Dunn Angels (10-and-under) are in similar position after a 10-0 win over Topsail on Tuesday. Dunn plays Hope Mills at 3 p.m. and needs one win for the state championship. Hope Mills would have to beat Dunn twice to advance to the World Series.
In Kenansville, Leland edged the Dunn Majors (12-and-under) baseball All-Stars. Dunn faces Mount Holly in an elimination game this evening at 6.
Ponytails
Aubree Bass pitched the first two innings for Dunn. She struck out four and had two fielder’s choices. She walked one and allowed a base hit. Two fielding errors allowed two runs.
Emily Williams pitched the third and fourth innings. She struck out one and had four fielder’s choices. She allowed one hit. Two fielding errors accounted for two more Scotland runs
Bass made a heads up play at first in the fourth inning when a girl that was safe at first made a turn for second and then walked back to the bag. Bass tagged her and the umpire called her out which helped to quell a Scotland rally.
Dunn had a 10-run first inning, sending 14 batters to the plate with five doubles and three singles. Dunn added five runs in the third on one double and four singles.
Dunn leadoff batter Ashley Bliven follows through on Tuesday.
Ashley Bliven had a double. Emily Scott had a double that one-hopped the center field fence. Williams had a double and a single. Bass had two singles and hit the longest ball in the tournament that was well out of the park but foul. Marley Colville had a sacrifice bunt. Harmony Horne had two doubles. Lindsey Knoll had a single. Anna Dudley had a single. Jazmin Rummel had two singles.
“We made several fielding errors tonight which is unusual for us,” said Dunn coach Jeremy Bass. “That, along with a walk and a couple hits by Scotland’s best hitter, allowed the four runs. We are going to have to work on cleaning that up.
“Other than that, our pitching was good. Our bats were as hot as the have been all tourney. We got production from the entire lineup. This is the best hitting All-Star team I have ever coached.
“From top to bottom our lineup can produce. When they all hit the ball, it is something special to watch. Hopefully, we can keep our pitching as it usually is, clean up the errors and continue with our offense against Hope Mills on Wednesday.”
Angels
Eva Kate McLamb was the winning pitcher for Dunn on Tuesday. She struck out five in two innings with one walk and one hit.
Reagan Adams pitched the third inning with three strikeouts and two walks.
Adams was 2-for-2 at the plate with a two-run triple to end the game on the run rule.
Kara Beth Butler was 2-for-2 with two doubles for Dunn. Jordyn Christopher had a double and an RBI. McLamb had a bunt for a hit. Molly Bass and Samantha Carter each had a hit and two RBIs.
Darlings
The Dunn Darlings (8-and-under, coach pitch) were eliminated with a pair of losses in Laurinburg although Lauralee Harris had an inside-the-park home run in Tuesday’s second game.
Majors
Anthony Jones started for Dunn and struck out eight while allowing three hits.
Jalen Evans had a homer to account for Dunn’s scoring. Jones finished with two hits. Wyatt Lucas, Hunter Tyndall and John Nelson McLamb also had hits for Dunn.
“It was a very good game,” said Dunn coach Charlie Stevens. “We just were on the wrong side in the final score.”
Jalen Evans homered for Dunn in a 2-1 loss to Leland.
