Nationals rout PDL

The wins keep coming for the Marianna Dixie Youth AA Nationals team as they repaid a loss to Ponce de Leon with an 18-7 victory Tuesday night to move one step closer to the district championship game.

Marianna jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first inning and never looked back, adding six runs in the second while shutting out Ponce de Leon.

In the third inning, Marianna failed to score but held their opponent to four runs, keeping a 10-5 margin of victory.

In the final inning, Marianna added eight runs to insure their win with Ponce de Leon only plating two runs, ending the game in just four innings.

Offensively, the Marianna Nationals were led by Riley Arunakul, who was 4-for-4 with two RBI, followed by Caleb Torbett, who was 3-for-3 with three RBI.  Riley
Torbett was 3-for-3 with two RBI, with Jashon Rhymes and Gannon Davis both going 3-for-4 with three RBI. 

Carey Griffin, back from illness on Monday night, appeared fully recovered as he was 2-for-2 with two RBI. 

Corey Akerson, Max Olds, Dekarion Sims and Beau Alday all added a hit each with Alday and Sims picking up an RBI each.

Defensively, Riley Torbett had a great game at first, catching a foul ball at the fence for an out and making the play on a high hopper to get the unassisted out. 

Caleb Torbett was the cut-off on a throw home and relayed the ball to get the runner out at the plate. Riley Arunakul played a great defensive game with no errors.

The Marianna Nationals were scheduled to take on Bonifay Wednesday night in Paxton.  They will have their work cut out for them as Bonifay has 10-run ruled every one of their opponents in the tournament.  Results of that game were not available at press time.