Concordia 12s take sub-district title with 7-0 victory
Published 1:00 am Wednesday, July 7, 2010
VIDALIA — The Concordia 12-year-old All-Star team might not have hit the ball the way coach Whest Shirley would like, but thanks to the pitching of Cole Cangemi, it was more then enough for them to win the sub-district tournament Tuesday night.
Cangemi pitched a one-hit shutout and Chandler Grayson hit a three-run homer to lead Concordia to a 7-0 victory over Winnsboro.
Concordia finished the round-robin tournament with a 3-0 record, and advances to the district tournament in Mangham, La.
“Cole did a fabulous job,” Shirley said. “When Cole doesn’t try to overpitch, he’s one of the best 12-year-olds in the area. Tonight he didn’t try to do too much, and he did a super job.”
Cangemi got some run support right away when Concordia scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Kade Passman and Grayson.
But the Concordia offense was silent for the next couple of innings before they broke out with a big bottom of the fourth inning.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Passman hit a single up the middle that scored a run. A second runner scored on the play, but the umpire ruled he interfered with the shortstop’s ability to make a play on the hit and called him out.
However, any controversy about the lost run was ended by Grayson, who ripped a three-run bomb over the left field fence to make the score 6-0.
“Chandler’s home run was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Shirley said. “That was the nail in the coffin right there.”
Concordia got a final run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Cangemi scored on a wild pitch.
Concordia will next play at 3 p.m. Saturday against the No. 2 seed from the Monroe, La., district in the district tournament.
And Shirley hopes his team saved up its hits for that tournament.
“We’re still not hitting the ball like we should be,” Shirley said. “We’ve still got some players in key spots that aren’t hitting. Maybe they’re saving it for Saturday. I hope so.”