Published: August 01, 2009 11:07 pm         

Whitfield falls in Series debut

The 12-and-under Whitfield County All-Stars lost to Tennessee, 7-0, on Saturday in the opening round of the Dixie Angels World Series at Patriot Park in Sumter, S.C.

The loss dropped Whitfield into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament. Whitfield will play North Carolina today at 10:30 a.m. in an elimination game. If Whitfield wins, it will play again at 6 to advance to Monday’s play. The championship game is Wednesday at 6. All tournament games are broadcast live on jockjive.com.

Robbie Sharp, coach of Whitfield, said the difference in Saturday’s game was the third inning when Tennessee scored seven runs — five coming with two outs.

“They came out and generated a few runs on bunts and sacrifices,” Sharp said in a telephone interview. “And then got the rest on base hits.”

Sharp said Tennessee’s pitcher threw in the mid-50s, but Whitfield loaded the bases against her twice only to come up empty.

“We left 12 runners on base,” Sharp said. “It was almost a mirror image of our first game at the state tournament in Perry.”

While Whitfield responded after the Perry loss with five consecutive wins to claim the state championship, Sharp said it will be much harder to duplicate that feat in the World Series.

“The caliber of play here is a lot higher than at the state level,” said Sharp, who said he believes his team scored a moral victory in the game.

When the home plate umpire was hit by a hard foul ball, he dropped to the ground and was unable to breathe. While paramedics attended the umpire, Whit-field’s players huddled for a prayer.

“The girls did that without being prompted to by any coaches or parents,” Sharp said. “That gesture sent a strong statement about (the Whitfield County) area. A lot of the other teams from other states were complementing them for their sportsmanship and for caring.”

     

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