Bantam Sox earn semi-final berth

After a lopsided loss on Friday night to open the Sports Gold Invitational, the Elks 341 Black Sox used a lopsided victory to move on.

Thanks to a 17-7 victory over Sudbury on Saturday night, the Black Sox earned a spot in the tournament semi-finals and will face Petoskey at 10 a.m. The Black Sox also defeated Suttons Bay earlier in the day by an 8-2 score.

"It's what we expected of the kids," said coach Chris Walls. "They played two real solid ball games. In the first one we were in a battle right until the seventh inning and when we needed our kids to come through they came through. They knew how important the second game was, especially against Sudbury knowing that we win we're in."

The late game was the one to watch as the Black Sox took and early lead and opened up a 12-2 lead in the third with nine runs in the inning. Sudbury cut the lead to 12-7 in the bottom of the inning only to see the locals break the game open again with five more runs in the fourth to make the scored 17-7.

Corey Jackson hit a pair of doubles for the Black Sox against Sudbury while Brandon Hanson had a single and a double. D.J. Carter also chipped in offensively with four runs scored.

In the early game against Suttons Bay, the Black Sox posted five runs in the seventh inning to seal up the 8-2 victory. Jackson got the start on the mound and pitched what Black Sox assistant coach Steve Hurley called his best start all year.

Walls also noted the defensive play of his team, which struggled in the opener on Friday.

"It was like night and day," Walls said. "We made a couple of blips on the radar, but nothing like it was. The kids stayed up. That was the most important thing. Even when we got a couple of errors, they stayed focused on the game."

The Black Sox now face Petoskey in one semi-final while Thunder Bay and Escanaba will face off in the other semi-final, also at 10 a.m. The championship game is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.