MARYSVILLE — It’s once again time for the Strawberry Festival, and with that brings the opportunity for local little league teams to show off at the Strawberry Tournament.
The Marysville White Sox did as much in their pigtail game against the Stilly Valley Royals June 11 at Cedar Field, winning 10-1 to advance into bracket play.
“We needed this one,” said White Sox manager Judd Luton. “We just came off a close loss yesterday and we haven’t been scoring like this lately. This was exactly what we needed.”
The winner of the game went on to play the Lake Stevens Giants the following day.
Helping the White Sox to victory was Jacob Watts, who pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out four and scattering six hits.
“He’s an all-around baseball player,” Luton said of Watts. “He never gets intimidated and just keeps throwing strikes and does a lot more than just pitching.”
Watts also led off for the White Sox, going 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a double.
But Watts wasn’t the only spotlight for the White Sox, as 13-year-old Hunter Trueax smacked a home run in the fourth inning that easily cleared the left-center field wall at Rudy Wright Memorial Field
“Hunter is rock solid out there in center field — he hits cleanup for us,” Luton said. “He really does it all for us because he pitches too. When he dials it up there, we’re mowing people down.”
The home run was Trueax’s 16th of the season, but it wasn’t his only highlight in the game, as he ended the game with a strike to third base from right-center field, easily beating the Royals runner.
The win improved the White Sox’s record to 14-8, as they finished in second place in the Majors South division, but started 1-3. A 10-game win streak was Luton’s most memorable story.
In the Strawberry Tournament, the White Sox defeated the Mukilteo National Brewers 4-3 to start the tournament, and went on to lose the Lake Stevens Giants 10-3 before to take second place in Pool D and earn a chance to win a play-in game to tournament play.
Team members include: Watts, Zack Townsend, Gavin Ramsey, Trueax, Jordy Luton, Kyler Alvis, J.D. Trueax, Brian Bordanard, Gabe Broome, Trev Anderson, Trevor Ashley and Kevin Dowlilng.
