El Toro wins city 9-10 title

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 19, 2001

Allen Dossett knew coming into the season he would have a good baseball team. But even he was impressed with the way his 9-10-year-old dixie youth team capped a perfect season with a 9-6 win over Dr. Bug in the Natchez City Championship on Monday at Ballew-Bowlin Field.

&uot;We had a good group of 10-year-olds returning and a couple of outstanding pitchers, so we expected to be pretty good,&uot; he said. &uot;But tonight our guys were facing the two best pitchers from the other league, and we were able to get the job done.&uot;

The key to getting it done for El Toro on Monday was an aggressive approach to base running that helped offset a lack of hitting in the championship game.

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Dr. Bug pitchers Preston Edwards and Gary Brown combined to allow only one hit, but numerous walks gave El Toro all the baserunners it would need.

&uot;In this age group you have to manufacture runs to win,&uot; El Toro assistant coach Randy Dossett said.

Dr. Bug took the early lead when Dylan White scored on a RBI single from Brown in the top of the first.

El Toro bounced back in the bottom of the first to score three runs, all coming from runners who reached base on a free pass.

The El Toro advantage was 4-2 heading into the top of the third when Dr. Bug regained the lead with three runs.

Charles Cooper had a big hit in the inning, and Conner Howard and Lamar Garrett each had an RBI for a 5-4 advantage. It wouldn’t stand however as Jordan Dossett and Melvin Davis each scored for El Toro in the bottom half of the frame to give El Toro a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.