By Staff
Kim West, Franklin County Times
MOBILE – It was deja vu all over again for the Russellville 11-12 All-Stars Tuesday night in the Little League state tournament at Westside Mobile's ballpark.
Russellville fell to Opp 4-3 in the tournament opener, and Opp went ahead early in the re-match to eliminate the Tigers 7-3.
After Opp hit a pair of two-run home runs in the first inning to go ahead 4-0, the Tigers battled back with two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to narrrow the score to 4-3.
Kelby Hallmark had an RBI fielder's choice to score Jake Todd, who led off with a double in the fourth. Cameron Harris hit an RBI single to score Jacob Seal, who reached on a single.
In the fifth, Blake Hyde led with a double and scored when Todd singled him home.
But Opp pushed across three more runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
Todd and Hyde each had two hits. Hyde homered twice during the tournament and pitched a complete-game win, and Todd added a homer in the 10-2 win against Huntsville Eastern earlier this week.
"I've really enjoyed coaching these kids – I've coached most of them since they were seven," said Russellville manager Brett Gist, who is retiring from youth league coaching. "It has been a great experience re-living my youth through these kids. They have great talent, and they're great kids."