Mid-County routs Alabama for regional title; World Series next
Published 2:35 pm Tuesday, July 18, 2017
- Logan LeJeune, shown playing for PNG in June, went 8 for 14 during the Babe Ruth Southwest Regional. (I.C. Murrell/The News)
Logan LeJeune is just enjoying the summer of his life.
The recent 5A state baseball champion has added Babe Ruth Southwest Regional MVP to his resume after going 3 for 5 and driving in two runs Tuesday morning in Mid-County’s 17-3, six-inning win over defending World Series champion Mobile County, Ala., in the regional final in Dumas.
That means the 16- to 18-year-old division, commonly known as Senior Babe Ruth, will have a new world champion. Mid-County advances to the World Series in Ephrata, Washington, with the win and will begin play Aug. 5.
Mid-County last made the World Series in 2013, losing the title game 2-1 to Mobile County in Andalusia, Alabama. The program’s 16-year-old team won the 2002 world championship in Russellville, Arkansas.
LeJeune, the standout Port Neches-Groves second baseman heading to Lamar next month, went 8 for 14 with two triples and drove in seven runs in Mid-County’s 4-0 run through the tournament.
And who better to take the mound in the championship win than the 5A MVP? Paris Junior College-bound Brandon Morse struck out six and held Mobile County to two earned runs on four hits in all six innings.
Mid-County torched Mobile County’s pitching staff for 15 hits. The Alabama team had four hits and three errors, while the Nederland-based winners made two miscues.
Chase Kemp went 3 for 4 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored. Kody Kolb (triple), Kyler Bumstead and Brandon Morse each had two hits; Devaun Anderson, Zach Clark, Conor McGrath (double) and Case Babino each added a hit.
Mid-County beat Mobile County 8-3 Monday to make it to the championship round, forcing the Alabamians to beat Amarillo 11-0 in the consolation final later Monday. But on Tuesday, Mid-County still had the defending champions’ number, expanding a three-run lead with five in the fourth and all but putting the game away with nine in the sixth.
Late Monday, Port Neches lost to Post Oak 13-1 in the Little League East Texas 10-year-old tournament at Houston’s West University Little League complex. The loss eliminated the Section 2 champions.
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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews
About I.C. Murrell
I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
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