Pepsi captures second straight title
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Vale Good hit two home runs and had five runs batted in and Joseph Hayes was unhittable in relief as Pepsi Cola defeated Johns Manville 15-13 Monday.
The win gave Pepsi its second straight T. M. Jennings Senior League City Championship.
&uot;My wife Naomi won a championship with the junior league and I won a championship with the Senior League,&uot; said Pepsi Cola head coach Carl A. Hayes I. &uot;That has never happened before. We earned this.&uot;
For Pepsi manager Ed Brown, it was his ninth straight championship in the Senior League.
&uot;They kept my championship streak alive,&uot; Brown said. &uot;Most of the players are 13-year-olds, so they were a little nervous. They battled hard and played well tonight.&uot;
Eldrick Young was the winning pitcher, giving up 10 runs (3 earned) and only four hits while striking out four and walking six in 2 1/3 innings.
&uot;It was one of my best performances,&uot; Young said.
Pepsi led off the game by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning.
Joseph Hayes walked and later scored on a passed ball. Then with Young on at third and Terry Smith at second, Good hit a three-run homer to left field.
Vantrell O’Neal went to third on an error and scored on a Mike Hughes single.
Johns Manville scored three runs in the bottom of the first.
Travis Noble and Willie Wesley scored on errors and Marquis Kinds scored on a passed ball.
Pepsi scored five more runs in the top of the second.
Hayes hit an RBI groundout to score C. J. Hawkins. Young scored when Good drew a bases-loaded walk. Antoine Wilson and Good each scored on passed balls.
and Smith scored on an error.
However, Johns Manville would not go away as it scored five runs of its own in the bottom of the second, led by Noble’s two-run double.
Pepsi scored two runs in the top of the third when Hayes doubled to bring home Hawkings and then scored on a fielder’s choice by Young.
Johns Manville then added two runs in the bottom of the third on an RBI triple by Noble and an RBI double by Wesley off Young.
Hayes came on in relief with a runner on third and got Derek Jervis to ground out to first for the third.
Good then hit his second home run of the game in the top of the fourth, this one a lead-off shot to center field.
&uot;I can’t describe it. It felt good,&uot; Good said about hitting two home runs in a big game.
Good went 2-for-2 with the two homers and walked twice.
&uot;Vale’s been hitting well all season,&uot; Brown said.
Pepsi then scored two runs in the top of the sixth when Good scored on an error and O’Neal scored on a passed ball.
After going scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, Johns Manville made things interesting in the bottom of the sixth.
Jervis went to second on an error and scored on a passed ball. Noble then hit a ground-rule double that scored Alexander McQuarters and Jonathan Knight.
Noble went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, walked once and had five RBIs.
With runners at second and third and two outs, Hayes got Wesley to strike out to end an exciting game.
&uot;I felt good,&uot; Hayes said. &uot;I had confidence in the defense. They had my back.&uot;
Hayes gave up three runs and three hits, struck out six and walked three in 3 2/3 innings.
McQuarters took the loss for Johns Manville, giving up 15 runs (5 earned) on six hits while striking out one and walking 11 batters in six innings.