Baseball teams wrap up play

By Michael Butler

Two Tallassee all-star baseball teams spent much of last week on the road with the same goal - to bring home championships. Each team went out in the semifinal round of their respective tournaments.

The 10u team was on Mississippi's Gulf Coast for the USSSA World Series. The 15u squad was in Camden, Ark. for the Babe Ruth SW Regional.

Tallassee's 15-and-under all-star team being introduced prior to the start of the tourney

In pool play the 10u team faced a couple of Alabama teams. They beat Chelsea 6-1 and lost to Huffman 13-1 on Thursday and Friday in D'Iberville.

Distant Kin? A couple of Tallassee Watsons; Elijah and his father Eric, with PGA golfer Bubba Watson.

On Saturday, Tallassee took on Aledo Orange from Texas, falling 13-12. They then beat the Bill Bond all-stars from Florida, 12-8. Players also met two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, whose son is a player on the Pensacola team.

On Sunday, the 10u team had victories over Stone, Miss. (19-3), Wetumpka Black (12-6) and Chelsea (15-0), setting up a rematch against Aledo with a trip to the championship on the line. Again, the difference was one run in a 6-5 loss.

For Tallassee's 15u stars, the tournament began with a heartbreak, walk-off loss to host Camden, 4-3 on Friday. On Saturday, the boys dropped a 7-3 game to Wharton, Texas.

In bracket play, Tallassee avenged its defeat to Camden with an 11-7 win in a game that ended just prior to midnight on Saturday. That set up a rematch of the state championship with Sylacauga for Sunday.

Tallassee split games on the road in Sylacauga in the previous June tournament with the homestanding team taking the title in the decisive championship pairing. The rubber match in Arkansas also went to Sylacauga, 7-2. Sylacauga went on to win the championship and will represent the Southwest Region in the World Series in Virginia next month.