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SPORTS
Bridgeport beats North Carolina
Nick Zona of the Atlee, Va., All-Stars pitches as Georgia and Virginia face off during the Tournament of State Champions on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010, at C-K Mitch Stadium.
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CEREDO-KENOVA -- Country roads, take them to a title?
West Virginia's state champion from Bridgeport is six innings away from reaching that destination after surviving Greenville Tar Heel of North Carolina, 4-2, in a Tuesday semifinal of the Little League Baseball age 9-10 Tournament of State Champions at Mitch Stadium.
With a Wednesday win against Columbus American of Columbus, Ga., in the 7:05 p.m. championship game, Bridgeport would become the first Mountain State Little League team to win a regional tournament since 1951.
"It's just amazing,"said Todd Hineman, Bridgeport's coach. "When you believe in yourself and believe in your kids, and they all buy into the system, anything's possible."
It was the little things that Hineman's team did that takes it to Wednesday's big stage.
In the first inning, Koby Kiefer scored from third base after Brayden Lesher strategically got himself in a distracting run-down between first and second.
Three innings later, Bridgeport took extra bags on Greenville wild pitches and errors in a three-run sixth. It also got a key RBI groundout from Noah Drummond in the frame.
"We work on base running all the time, but it's not something that (assistant coach) Bob (Williams) and I do," Hineman said. "These kids, as a group, are very smart baseball players who know how to run bases.
"That helps from a coaching aspect because we don't have to explain to them when a guy isn't at third to come to third base. They know automatically."
But the small pieces to an almost-championship didn't end there.
Utilizing a slick fastball and deceiving slider, Lesher, the starter, was effective on nearly all of his 78 pitches. He struck out three and allowed one hit in four solid innings of work.
"They were stepping (out of the box) and I was getting mad," Lesher said. "But then they stopped doing that and I got calm.
"So I threw strikes."
Of course, a pitcher can have a peaceful feeling when his defense is flawless behind him.
On several occasions, the Bridgeport leather was flashed to highlight-proportions.
Bridgeport didn't commit an error and spectators in the stands quickly found out why Andrew Barlow's teammates and coaches call him "Dirty."
The second baseman's pants were covered in infield clay after a night of diving and flying around in efforts to make spectacular grabs.
Barlow made plays from his knees and on his back look routine.
"It was just my lucky night," said the humble Barlow. "And somebody gave me a Kit Kat -- that made me wild."
Wild described the scene after the last out was recorded to give Bridgeport its unexpected pass to Wednesday's title game.
Gloves flew, high-fives were handed out like candy on Halloween and there was even a backflip.
"The thing I'm most happy about is that when the pressure was on, they really came together as a team," an emotional Williams said. "And supported each other and backed each other."
And for good measure, Hineman left Tuesday night with his signature line of the week.
"Holy Mackerel, little Bridgeport, West Virginia is going to the championship," he said. "It's amazing."
WEST VIRGINIA 100 300 -- 4 2 0
NORTH CAROLINA 002 000 -- 2 2 2
Lesher, Duez (5) and Hineman. Saieed, Christopher (5), Ahlers (6) and Evans. W - Lesher. L - Saieed. S - Duez.
Hitting: (NC) Ahlers RBI; Boykin RBI; (WV) Drummond RBI.
