Saturday was the final day of baseball season for the Little League teams as they took to the field for the last time this year.
Tee ball action started early in the day followed by the Minor League teams of Valley Fork and Ivydale going head to head in a game that held you to the edge of your seat. Pitchers on both teams wanted the win, and the heat was on.
It was a hot day but not as hot as what was going on on the mound. Both teams left players hanging on base, unable to score in the first two innings, but things started to heat up after that.
Cooper Collins was the first to get extra bases when he hit a screamer into left field for a triple. At the top of the fifth inning, it was 3-0 with Ivydale in the lead. There were three inside the park homeruns in the game – Keegan Sizemore and Cooper Collins of Valley Fork and Trenton Smith of Ivydale. When the dust settled, it was the Ivydale Yankees on top becoming the Minor League Champions by the score of 7-3.
Next up was the Major League teams of Clay and Valley Fork. This had all the makings of a great game.
On the hill for Valley Fork was Noah Collins, and it was Wyatt Bailey for Clay. Both had some good speed and some nasty English on some of their pitches. In the first inning, Valley Fork was breaking some wood and scattering hits to score two runs to get the game going. Trenton Gibson dusted home first followed by Jack Haverty.
The Clay team had some trouble and couldn’t get it going in the first. Another run was added in the second for Valley Fork, and Clay was still having trouble. In the third inning, Clay was finally on the boards scoring two runs but Valle Fork added three of their own. Valley Fork was shut out in the fourth and fifth innings while Clay added two more making the score 6-4 Valley Fork. That was as close as they could get.
In the sixth inning, Valley Fork went baseball hunting and was killing the ball, scoring six runs before they were shut down. Clay just couldn’t recover, and the final score was Valley fork 15, Clay 4. Valley Fork became the 2017 Clay County Major League Champions.
It has been a good season — the fields were in excellent shape. Many thanks go out to all those involved in the effort to get these fields ready for these youth to play ball this year. There are still funds needed to complete the fields, but it looks like the end is in sight. The county will once again have a place to be proud of for the local kids to call home field.
