The Origin Blue Jays 18U — a local American Legion baseball team comprised of Cedar Creek School players — opened tournament play by winning their first two games before dropping a tightly contested pitchers’ duel Saturday to finish the weekend with a 2-1 record.
The Blue Jays (4-4) opened play Thursday with an 8-4 win over the West Monroe Sox 16U before rolling past the Neville Tigers 10-1 on Friday. They closed the tournament Saturday with a 2-1 loss to OCS A’s 18U.
Origin broke open Thursday’s opener by scoring five runs in the fourth inning to pull away from West Monroe. Liam Durrett, Case Phillips and Abram Riser each drove in runs during the rally, while Micah Taylor and Cason Floyd were each hit by pitches with the bases loaded to force in runs.
Eli Slocum earned the victory after allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits over four innings while striking out six. Riser tossed two scoreless innings in relief.
The Blue Jays pounded out 11 hits as Riser, Durrett and Cole Luker collected two apiece. Phillips, Taylor, Riser, Slocum, Floyd, Durrett and Luker each drove in a run.
Origin carried that momentum into Friday’s matchup against Neville, scoring four runs in the first inning before adding one in the second and five more in the third on the way to a 10-1 victory.
Connor Yates, Durrett, Phillips and Riser each drove in runs during the opening inning. David Craighead added an RBI sacrifice bunt in the second before Henry Walpole doubled home a run, Craighead delivered a two-run single and Luker added a two-run single in the five-run third.
Durrett earned the win after allowing one run on four hits over five innings while walking one.
The Blue Jays again finished with 11 hits. Phillips, Walpole and Yates had two hits each, while Craighead drove in a team-high three runs. Yates also stole two bases as Origin played error-free defense.
Saturday’s finale proved to be a pitcher’s duel as OCS A’s pushed across two runs in the third inning and held on for a 2-1 victory.
Luker took the loss despite allowing only two runs on four hits over three innings.
Taylor led the Blue Jays offensively by going 3 for 3 and stealing two bases. Slocum drove in Origin’s lone run, while the Blue Jays again played flawless defense.
