Midway Heights/Scottdale Loses Game 1 of Little League Tournament

CARTERSVILLE—Midway Heights/Scottdale lost 10-0 to Madison County in both teams’ opening game of the state Little League tournament Saturday.

Midway Heights, the District 3 champion, fell behind in the top of the first inning when Madison used aggressive base running and shaky defense to score two runs.

But Midway Heights pitcher Howard Ahmaad O’Neal settled in and shut out Madison the next three innings. O’Neal kept his team in the game despite a lack of offense.

Madison broke open the 2-0 game in the top of the fifth inning.

A towering two-run home run high off the light pole behind the center-field fence seemed to rattle O’Neal and the defense behind him. Madison kept putting the ball in play, and Midway Heights/Scottdale made several errors and poor decisions.

When the inning was over, O’Neal had thrown 79 pitches in the game, and District 7 champion Madison County had piled up eight more runs to take a 10-0 lead. That meant Midway Heights had to score in the bottom of the fifth or the game would end under the 10-run mercy rule.

But relief pitcher Golston Gillespie retired the Decatur team in order, striking out the final two batters.

Madison County, out of Danielsville, takes the lead in Pool B of the Little League Baseball Georgia State Championship Tournament with a 1-0 record. Warner Robins defeated Glennville, 19-6, later Saturday to tie for first.

Midway Heights/Scottdale and Glennville are tied with 0-1 records, while Peachtree City had Saturday off.

By the close of pool play Wednesday night at Rudy York Field, all five teams will have played one another, and the top two will advance to the semifinals Thursday against the top teams from Pool A.

Midway Heights/Scottdale’s next game is Sunday at 3 p.m. against Warner Robins at Joe Frank Harris Field.

Both fields are in in northwest Cartersville. Admission to the games is free, but parking is $5 a day or $20 for the whole tournament.