Elkville Fastpitch Battles Back with Two State Wins
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Smacking five roundtrippers-and scoring 17 runs-Elkville Fastpitch bounced back to win a pair of elimination games Sunday at the Illinois Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Class B State Fastpitch Tournament.
Elkville, fourth place finishers in last year's event, returns for more elimination round play next Saturday at 12:45 p.m. versus a yet-to-be determined opponent.
Kenters Bud Light from Teutopolis sent Elkville to the losers bracket, pulling off a 3-1 upset Saturday afternoon.
Limited to five hits, the local team pulled ahead 1-0 in the fourth inning on Barry Maynor's RBI single.
Kenters, however, countered with a run against Elkville ace Les Wood in the seventh and then scored twice an inning later to notch the victory.
Nathan Hunter went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Wood struck out 12 and scattered six hits.
Troy Downen and Bryant Hale combined for five strikeouts in a two-hit, 9-0 win over Kull's Furniture of Altamont Sunday.
Maynor, Shawn Hunter and Bryer Funk all had two hits with Reams (two RBI), Lance Bedar, Aaron Hunter, Drew Porter and N. Hunter hitting safely.
Porter's hit was a solo home run.
Downen pitched the first four innings with Hale finishing things out during a perfect fifth.
Sunday evening, Elkville jumped to an early 4-0 lead and then rallied past Tri-Power Towing of Altamont.
The final score was 8-5 as Wood whiffed 13 batters while giving nine hits, despite fighting a painful heel injury.
Reams hit the first pitch of Elkville's first inning over the boards for a quick 1-0 lead. Funk added a two-run blast in the second while Reams doubled in the fourth tally.
Tri-Power knotted things at 4-4 before Elkville went ahead for good in the last of the fourth. Reams tripled and jogged home after a wild pitch.
Back-to-back towering home runs by S. Hunter and Dusty Jaroski pushed Elkville ahead for good.
An RBI hit for Funk completed the scoring.
Reams went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and home run. Funk was 3-for-3. Reams also knocked in two runs. Bedar and S. Hunter added two hits apiece with A. Hunter and Maynor hitting safely.
Elkville will face either Kohlman Orthopedics (Teutopolis) or defending state winner Villa Grove (Log Cabin Inn) and needs three wins Saturday to reach the trophy round.
Kenters Bud Light (Teutopolis ) 3,
Elkville Fastpitch 1
Kenters 000 000 12-3 6 0
Elkville 000 100 00-1 5 1
LP-Wood. TOP HITTERS-Elkville: N. Hunter 2-3, Reams 1-4 (2B), A. Hunter 1-2, Maynor 1-1 (RBI).
Elkville Fastpitch 9,
Kull's Furniture (Altamont) 0
Elkville 205 02-9 11 0
Kull's 000 00-0 2 3
WP-Downen. TOP HITTERS-Elkville: Reams 1-2 (2 RBI), Bedar 1-3 (2B, RBI), A. Hunter 1-3 (RBI), S. Hunter 2-3, Maynor 2-3, Porter 1-2 (HR, RBI), Funk 2-3, N. Hunter 1-3 (2B).
Elkville Fastpitch 8,
Tri-Power Towing (Altamont) 5
Tri-Power 000 401 0-5 9 2
Elkville 121 130 x-8 13 1
WP-Wood. TOP HITTERS-Elkville: Reams 3-4 (2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI), Bedar 2-4 (2-2B), A. Hunter 1-4, S. Hunter 2-3 (HR, RBI), Jaroski 2-4 (HR, RBI), Maynor 1-2 (RBI), Funk 3-3 (HR, 2 RBI).
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