Keystone Little League Outlasts Field, Wins Third Consecutive TOSC Title for State of Florida

Tournament participants greeted with unseasonably cool temperatures at Legendary Mitch Stadium for the 2013 TOSC. The high for the weekend was in the mid 80's, and the every evening session saw temperatures fall into the upper 60's. New to the TOSC this year was a Tournament Pregame Show broadcast live from the stadium prior to the tournament festivities. Teams and umpires were introduced at the Opening Ceremonies, and all mothers in attendance were presented with roses in respect for all the work they do. Doug Flynn spoke to tournament participants, and Alabama won the annual Manager's Wiffleball Challenge and a pizza party. Teams then paraded through Ceredo and Kenova to Dreamland Pool.

The opening day of pool play competition saw the largest comeback in TOSC history, an extra-inning walk-off hit, a display of offensive firepower, and a competitive opening game to start the tournament. North Carolina jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but South Carolina responded with a 3 run third, and then plated 4 in the sixth inning, but had to hold off a Wilson City rally to hold on to the 8-5 victory. In a back-and-forth game, Tenneessee's Kaleb Powell hit a three-run home run and Adam Urquhart had a seventh-inning walk-off RBI single in a 9-8 victory. Florida exploded for 8 runs in the fifth inning to send back Alabama, 14-3. Dominic LaFalce went 2-for-3 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI's, while Evan Lowder hit a home run in the victory. Georgia jumped out to a 7-0 lead after one and a half innings, but Virginia would rally for the largest comeback victory in TOSC history. Virginia's Cayden Richardson entered the game on the hill and shut down the Georgia hitters for the remainder of the game, allowing his team to plate six runs in the fifth inning to complete the comeback.

Day 2 of pool play began with a nail biter.  After Tennessee scored three runs in each of the first two innings, North Carolina fought back, led by Jacob Dienes who went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles.  North Carolina appeared to have tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the tying run was sent back to third base after flagged for leaving the base early on a double.  Kanon Lewis finished the game on the mound for Tennessee to earn the save.  Zach McWilliams and Kaleb Powell each went 2-for-3 for the Volunteer State champions.  In the second game, Georgia pitcher Zach Bolding shut down the Alabama offense, not allowing a hit through three innings, while Georgia would plate 8 runs in a 10-0 four inning win.  Charleaf Nisbet led the Georgia offense, going 2-for-3 and scoring 2 runs.  In the 5:00 contest, Florida scored 7 times in the top of the first, and held a 12-1 lead through 2 1/2 innings, then survived several Virginia threats for a 14-7 victory.  Bobby Christy finished 3-4 with a double while Dominic LaFalce, Ty Bitman, Jake Caswell, and Justin Noah all had two hits each for Florida. For Virginia, Richardson and Talley each had a 2-run home run in the fourth along with two total hits a piece. Brett Allen and Jack Hawley also had a two-hit game for Virginia.  The nightcap of Day 2 saw Bridgeport jump out to a 10-0 victory, but had to then outlast South Carolina, 12-8, in the second longest game in TOSC history (3 hours, 4 minutes).  Irmo outhit West Virginia 15-7, but was unable to capitalize until a 7-run fourth inning to tighten the contest.  West Virginia would be able to outlast South Carolina in the marathon. Frank Why led West Virginia, going 2-for-3 at the plate, while South Carolina's Jay Metts had a three-hit game.

The third and final day of pool play was setup to allow 5 teams to advance to the semifinals with a win, but only one team would capitalize on their chance with a victory.  Tennessee would score 7 runs in the first and defeat Georgia in the first game, 8-6, and would go on to claim the top seed in the tournament.  Georgia would have to wait the entire day to see if they could sneak in as the fourth seed, and as the day played out, everything would fall in their favor.  South Carolina, also needing a win over Florida to advance, took a 5-2 lead into the sixth inning as starting pitcher Anson Merrick pitched 5 innings and held the explosive Florida hitters in check.  However, Florida would send 15 runners to the plate in the sixth and scored 9 times, and would hold on for the 11-8 victory. 

Virginia and West Virginia matched up in a game where the winner would advance.  After posting the largest comeback in tournament history just two day before, Virginia would need to rally again finding itself down 6-2 to West Virginia going into the bottom of the third inning. Nick Talley belted a 3-run homer to lead the four-run third for Virginia to tie the game. Brett Allen hit an RBI double in the fifth to give Virginia the lead for good. Richardson and Hawley each added run-scoring doubles as insurance for the victory.  In the nightcap, Alabama's P.J. Ramsey hit a 4th inning solo home run to right, and Alabama would score three runs in the top of the sixth to defeat North Carolina. Hayes pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the win, and Jackson Meeks got the final two outs for the save, which snapped an 11 game losing streak for the state of Alabama in the TOSC. The results of the day allowed Georgia to claim the 4th spot in the semifinals.

In one of the best-played games in tournament history, Florida and Virginia played a thrilling eight-inning semifinal. Virginia's Cayden Richardson and Florida's Bobby Christy each went to the pitch limit and matched each other pitch for pitch, getting through 6 innings tied, 2-2. In the top of the seventh, Jack Hawley hit a 3-run home run to right field to take a 5-2 lead. However, Keystone would rally again, taking advantage of walks, allowing Lafalce and Christy to knock in a run each on infield groundouts, and Bitman's single brought in the tying run. In the eighth inning, Chase Jackson, the third Florida pitcher who would get the win, lined a double to left field. After Ryan Lowder walked, Lafalce lined the first pitch he saw to left for the walk-off hit.

The second semifinal saw three home runs, as Tennessee used a three-run home run by Ty Reeves and a two-run homer from Luke Fleming to build a 5-0 lead. Georgia's Thomas Lane Saxon hit a solo homer in the fourth inning, but Tennessee would tack on four additional runs in the fifth inning, led by Brown Norton's 2-run double, to secure a 9-2 victory and a birth in the championship game.

In the championship game, Florida got on the scoreboard early with a three-run home run by Keaton Howard in the top of the first, and they never looked back, piling up 13 hits in the contest.  After adding five additional runs in the second inning, Josh Johnston pitched the final 4 2/3 inning for Florida and held on for the 12-6 victory in the final.  Ty Bitman was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Johnston was also 3-for-4, and Howard finished with 4 RBI's in the victory.  Jarrett Webb and Kanon Lewis led Tennessee offensively, each going 2-for-4.  In the end, teams from the state of Florida finished the tournament with their 16th consecutive win at Mitch Stadium and 3rd consecutive Tournament of State Champions pennant.