Pictured above is the Dunn Ponytails (12-and-under) softball team which won the District Six Dixie Youth tournament in Pembroke on Sunday. On the front row from left are Berkley Campbell, Carmyn Ivey, Harmony Horne, Emily Scott, Marley Colville and Emily Williams. On the second row are Jazmin Rummel, Anna Dudley, Aubree Bass, Lilly McLamb, Ashley Bliven and Lindsey Knoll. On the third row are coaches Rich Rummel, David Horne and Jeremy Bass.
The Dunn Ponytails (12-and-under) softball All-Stars won the District 6 championship on Sunday with a 12-0 no-hit victory over Hope Mills.
Aubree Bass and Emily Williams pitched two innings apiece for Dunn and combined for a no-hit shutout. Bass struck out two batters and walked one. Williams had three strikeouts. They faced 12 batters total, which is the minimum.
Dunn first baseman Jazmin Rummel made an unassisted double play catching a pop fly and coming down on the base before the runner that Bass had walked could get back to the bag.
Ashley Bliven led the offense with a triple, a double and an inside-the-park home run. Emily Scott had a single and a double. Harmony Horne had a single. Williams had a single. Marley Colville had a single and a sacrifice bunt. Anna Dudley has a double and a single. Berkley Campbell had a double. Lindsey Knoll had a single and a double.
Dunn started slow with only one run in the first and none in the second. The lone run was enough with the pitching and defense. The bats came alive in the third with eight runs. Bliven hit a three-run inside-the-park homer in the fourth to stretch the lead to 12.
Hope Mills had scored nearly 30 runson Hoke County and 16 against Moore County but in nine innings versus Dunn they could only muster one run.
“It is a testament to our pitching and defense,” said Dunn coach Jeremy Bass.
In three district games, the Dunn Ponytails scored 43 runs and allowed just one. Dunn pitchers combined for two no-hitters and two shutouts.
Dunn advances to the Dixie state tournament in Laurinburg, which will be held July 13-18. The first-round opponent will be announced later this week.
