After a scoreless first inning Tidewater Energy turned on the power as it racked up 13 runs over the next three innings to take a 13-3 victory over Frank’s Pizza in the semifinal round of the Rookie Division of the Cal Ripken League on Saturday.
With the win, Tidewater Energy advances to the championship game where it will face Gerard Farms.
“We’re just so happy,” Tidewater Energy coach Jay Dixon said. “Frank’s Pizza played so good. We were really worried about them, but we’re tickled to death that we were able to win this game.”
Frank’s Pizza jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the top of the second, but Tidewater Energy was electric in the bottom of the inning as it put six runs on the board.
Tidewater Energy’s Liam Paul drove in two runs to put his team ahead 4-1 before Max Baltz belted a two-run triple that extended his team’s advantage to 6-1.
“The middle of our lineup just hit,” Dixon said. “Most of the time all of our guys hit and they did that today. It was just awesome.”
Tidewater Energy would go on to add two more runs in the third before closing out the contest with a five-run fourth.
With the lead in hand, Tidewater Energy put the pedal to the metal and drove off with another playoff victory.
“They just wanted it,” Dixon said. “I guess they just wanted it more than I thought they wanted it. In the first inning we came out kind of slow then we just got ahead of them and they kept going.”
Liam Bullock and Eli Huynh each went 2-2 for Frank’s Pizza, who rallied for two runs in the second.
The loss was the second one of the postseason for Frank’s Pizza and coach Chip Edwards said that he was proud of his team and the season it had.
“I loved it,” Edwards said. “When you’re dealing with 7-8-year olds the attention spans are sometimes not always there, but it’s great to see when they click.
“Our team struggled a little bit this year but then in the tournament we won three straight games and played great defense. They were all paying attention and had great focus.”
Edwards said he was pleased with the team’s progress throughout the season.
“The key for us was that I saw a lot of growth from the early games to the last game of the year,” Edwards said. “And that’s the goal of the Rookie League.”

Frank’s Pizza            012    0    —    3    8
Tidewater Energy    062    5    —    13    13
Hitting: F — Connor Edwards 1-2, Eli Huynh 2-2, Liam Bullock 2-2, Trey Cutler 1-1, Leighton Blount 1-1, Brent Vosburg 1-2; T — Aven Harris 2-3, Avery Martin 2-2, Gary Payne 1-2, Liam Paul 2-2 (2B), Will Grimes 2-3 (3B), Max Baltz 2-3 (3B), Connor Lewis 1-2, Evan Waters 1-3, David Williams 1-2.