Sports

Albany American bounced from World Series

• Gillespie Albany American is eliminated Wednesday night from the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series, falling to Goodlettsville (Tenn.).

Derek Barichello

LAGRANGE — Gillespie Albany American coach Ron McClain answered his phone Wednesday night in a somber voice.

“I got bad news,” he said. “We’re out.”

The 11-12 year old Georgia state champs were eliminated from the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series after an 11-3 loss to Goodlettsville (Tenn.) on Wednesday.

Albany finished the tournament in LaGrange with a 1-2 record, recording a win against Searcy from Arkansas on Tuesday and an opening-round loss Monday to West Monroe East from Louisiana.

“(The team) is all right,” said McClain of how Albany American handled the defeat. “We learn from losses. We’ll hold our heads up and know we have to get better.”

Just like in its opening-round loss to Louisiana, the Georgia state champs grabbed an early lead, 2-1, heading into the fourth inning.

However, that’s when Tennessee’s offense found its groove. Tennessee scored twice in the fourth, twice in the fifth and six more times in the sixth before it was all said and done.

“(Tennessee) just went crazy in the sixth inning, hitting the ball everywhere,” McClain said.

Joshua Black pitched a complete game, shouldering the loss for Albany American.

While it was a tough day at the plate, the bright spots came from Andretti Tidwell, who doubled twice with a run batted in.

Despite the loss, McClain said he looked forward to the group’s promising future.

“They’ll all move up (except two of them),” McClain said. “They’ll play on the same Pony League teams and try to repeat.”

Though McClain would have liked to have seen his team advance to the World Series championship through the loser’s bracket, he said Wednesday's loss could not take away from his team’s accomplishments this season.

“I don’t think anybody thought somebody in Albany would ever do this,” McClain said of winning the Georgia state championship in come-from-behind fashion, rallying to win two consecutive games after an opening-round loss to Newton County. “The way we came back and won it makes it even better. They can always say they are the champs in the state of Georgia.”

More Sports>>