Quincy All Stars out slug Coldwater Redbirds for day two win at Branch County Fair
COLDWATER — The scoring came fast and furious Tuesday night as the Quincy All Stars faced off with the Coldwater Redbirds on day two of the Branch County Fair Youth Baseball Tournament.
In the end it was a pair of four run innings that did the trick for Quincy who held off a late Coldwater charge to improve to 2-0 in the tournament with a 9-6 victory.
With the win Quincy can wrap up a Branch County Fair Baseball Championship with a win versus Union City on Wednesday night while Coldwater still has a chance to force a tie atop the standings with a Quincy loss and a Redbirds win over Bronson.
Coldwater hit pay dirt first with a pair of runs in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Luke Stout, scoring Royal Fleming, followed by an RBI single from Will Knowlon, scoring Logan West, giving the Redbirds a quick 2-0 lead.
Quincy came roaring back, plating four big runs in their half of the inning to quickly take the lead. Quincy’s runs came thanks to a two run double off the bat of Bryson Estlow, scoring Benny Travelbee and JJ Wright; a Kale Dirschell RBI single, scoring Estlow; and a Matthew Taylor RBI single, scoring Dirschell, giving Quincy the 4-2 lead after one inning.
After a scoreless second inning for both teams Coldwater managed to tie up the score in the top of the third with a pair of runs, and it all started with a Fleming four pitch walk. Fleming eventually came around to score on a hard RBI double to left field off the bat of Stout, closing the score to 4-3 with no outs in the inning. Stout would eventually score on a ground ball off the bat of Knowlon, tying the score up at 4-4 heading to the bottom of the third inning.
Errors in the bottom of the third inning spelled doom for the Coldwater defense as a pair of key errors allowed Quincy leadoff man Joe Gray to hit a hard grounder to the pitcher, a ball that was bobbled only slightly, allowing Carson Crave to score on the play, giving the Orioles a 5-4 lead.
After the Redbirds went down in order in the fourth inning, Quincy came back and took advantage, plating four huge runs to essentially blow the game open. The scoring started for Quincy after JJ Wright was hit by a pitch to kick off the inning. Wright moved to third after a pair of passed balls and scored on a Estlow RBI single, pushing the Quincy lead to 6-4. Two battlers later Crave singled on a hard ground ball to the pitcher, allowing Estlow to score, extending the lead to 7-4. After Quincy managed to load the bases thanks to a walk and a short single to the outfield, Crave scored on a bases loaded walk drawn by Caden Norris, giving Quincy the 8-4 lead. The next at-bat saw Joe Gray hit into a fielder’s choice, allowing Seth VanStelle to score, giving the Orioles a commanding 9-4 lead after four full innings.
Coldwater wasn’t about to go away just yet however, making some big noise in their final at-bat. With one out in the inning West singled on a hard ground ball to third base. West eventually came home on an RBI single from Knowlon, closing the score to 9-5. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Knowlon eventually scored on a passed ball, closing the score to 9-6 with two outs. With two men in scoring position it was Wyatt Boger hitting a hard line drive shot to first base, a ball that was snatched out of the air by the quick glove of Estlow, ending the Redbird threat and the game, giving Quincy the 9-6 victory.
Matthew Taylor took the win on the mound for Quincy after throwing three innings in the start, allowing three hits and four runs, only one earned, with four walks and six strikeouts. JJ Wright finished out the game on the mound, throwing two innings in relief, allowing two hits and two runs with two walks and two strikeouts.
Bryson Estlow brought the big bat for Quincy, going 2 for 3 with a single and a double, three Rbis and two runs scored.
Also adding to the Quincy effort was Joe Gray with a single and two RBIs; Benny Travelbee with a single, two walks and a run scored; JJ Wright with a walk and two runs scored; Kale Dirschell with a single, an RBI and a run scored; Carson Crave with a single, an RBI and two runs scored; Seth VanStelle with three walks and a run scored; Matthew Taylor with two singles, a walk and an RBI; and Caden Norris with a walk and an RBI.
Royal Fleming took the tough loss on the mound for Coldwater after throwing three solid innings in the start, allowing five hits and five runs, four earned, with five walks and six strikeouts. Logan Turner finished out the game on the mound, throwing a full inning while allowing three hits and four runs with three walks.
Luke Stout led the Coldwater offense, going 2 for 3 with a single and a double, two Rbis and a run scored. Also putting together a big game at the plate was Will Knowlon who went 2 for 3 with two singles, two RBIs, and a run scored. Adding to the Redbird effort was Royal Fleming with a walk and two runs scored; Logan West with a single, a walk and two runs scored; Gengi Ishii with two walks; Wayne Case with a walk; and Wyatt Boger with a walk.
With the loss Coldwater falls to 1-1 in the tournament while Quincy improves to 2-0 with the victory. Quincy will look to wrap up the tournament championship with a 6:30 matchup with Union City on Wednesday. If Quincy wins they will finish unbeaten and claim the crown. With a loss to Union City and a Coldwater win over Bronson a three-way tie would occur atop the standings, leading to a tiebreaker which in years past has been combined runs scored in the tournament. Coldwater and Bronson will open up the final day of the tournament on Wednesday, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Quincy All Stars out slug Coldwater Redbirds for day two win at Branch County Fair
