J.T. Meadows picked up four hits and four RBI to lead the Marianna All-Stars to an impressive 11-1 win over Okeechobee in six innings Saturday on the first day of the Dixie Junior Boys state tournament.
Marianna will play tonight at 7 p.m. against Poinciana on Field One.
The Marianna All-Stars dominated the action at the plate, on the mound and in the field from the opening pitch, collecting 12 hits to just four for Okeechobee and making several sparkling defensive plays in the infield and outfield.
Brad Middleton pitched a complete game for Marianna, giving up just one earned run and striking out three, consistently forcing Okeechobee to put the ball in play and allowing his defense to do the rest.
But it was Meadows who was the offensive star for Marianna Saturday, consistently crushing the ball to left and centerfield.
After Middleton helped himself out with an RBI single off of Okeechobee starter Jack Radebaugh for the first run of the game, Meadows came up to bat with runners on second and third and smoked a two-run double to deep centerfield to make it 3-0.
Meadows came up again in the second inning with a runner in scoring position at second base and hammered an Alex Estremera pitch down the leftfield line to score Adam DeWitt to make it 6-0 Marianna.
Meadows came around to score the seventh Marianna run of the game moments later when Mason Melvin reached on an infield single and an Okeechobee error brought Meadows to the plate.
Okeechobee got its lone run in the bottom of the second when Jacob Domer led off with a single and was brought home on a squeeze bunt by Billy Childers.
Middleton prevented any further damage by inducing two easy groundouts to first base to end the inning.
With runners on the corners in the fourth inning for Marianna, Meadows again came to bat and hit a hard line drive right up the middle to bring DeWitt to the plate again for an 8-1 Marianna advantage.
Melvin then scored Middleton on an infield single to make it 9-1.
Marianna extended to a 10-run lead in the top of the sixth inning when Meadows hit a one-out single to centerfield, then came around to score on a fielder’s choice.
Okeechobee threatened to extend the game another inning with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but couldn’t capitalize on a lead-off double by Estremera.
A sacrifice fly by Domer got Estremera to third, but Middleton induced a flyout by David Coleman and a groundout by Childers to end the game.
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Poinciana earned its way into the winners’ bracket by rallying from an early deficit to beat Spring Hill 9-5.
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In Dixie Boys action, Vernon topped Bartow 14-0 and Chipley fell to Spring Hill 6-2.
The Marianna Dixie Boys were scheduled to play at 7 p.m., Saturday night, but the game did not end before press time.
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