ST. GEORGE — Dixie’s Little League baseball team is smashing its way through San Berdoo.
The Utah state champs belted out 22 hits and defeated North Boulder (Colorado) 16-2 Tuesday at the Mountain Region tournament in San Bernardino, California.
This was after Dixie smacked 15 hits and beat Wyoming 19-5 in Sunday’s tournament opener.
The power-hitting team that can also pitch will play for the Mountain Region championship Friday at 1 p.m. MT. The game is scheduled to be broadcast by ESPN.
With one more win, Dixie will be heading to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, next week to play in the Little League World Series.
“It’s fun. You start feeling the butterflies a little, feeling pressure perhaps a little bit more,” coach Nate Andrus told St. George News on Wednesday.
He noted that when the team made goals back in June, winning in San Berdoo wasn’t their primary focus. Getting to Williamsport was.
“We’re one game away from making that goal a reality,” Andrus added.
In Tuesday’s win over Colorado, Dixie jumped ahead 8-2 after two innings then plated eight more tallies in the fourth frame to end the game early.
Five different Dixie batters – Eli Platt, Noah Manumaleuna, Jack Haslem, Doozy Brinton and Boston Wade – collected three hits for the winners.
“Going back to our strategy of getting the ball in play,” Andrus said. “Another game where every kid on the roster got on base at least once. They know that if we put the ball in play, we’re going to have a real good chance to win.”
Andrus noted that Dixie’s team batting average at the tournament is over .570 and the team’s on-base percentage is over .600.
Ezra Bird started on the mound for Dixie, giving up no hits, two runs, four walks and recording two strikeouts.
Carter Platt and Wade each threw a scoreless relief inning for Dixie.
“We’ve got a really deep pitching staff,” Andrus said. “I have eight guys I have confidence in, so if we do get a bad outing it’s nice to know as a manager that I can make a quick change to the next guy in line.”
Dixie had the day off Wednesday and waited to find out who their opponent will be for Friday’s championship game, the winner of Nevada vs. Colorado.
In the modified double-elimination tournament, Friday’s championship game will be winner-take-all, even though Dixie is unbeaten.
Click here for more information at Dixie’s Little League GoFundMe page.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.