Milford Loses Championship Game

The Milford Little League 11- and 12-year-old all-stars lost 6-0 to East Marietta in the championship game of the District 2 tournament Sunday.

through earlier games against Smyrna and two Murphey Candler teams by a combined score of 46-12; the team’s only loss in pool play .

No other team stayed within nine runs of East Marietta, and the host team was nervous going into the championship game at Sewell Park.

“I didn’t sleep very well last night knowing we’d have to play you guys,” East Marietta Manager Harold Brannen told the after the game.

But the team from the ran into an impossible obstacle in the championship: East Marietta pitcher Jason Rooks, who threw a no-hitter and struck out 16 of the 19 batters he faced.

Milford’s pitcher, Jamaal Combest, gave his team a chance. He held East Marietta to seven hits, two of which were scored errors by some, and kept East Marietta’s hitters off-balance all day.

But Combest struggled with his control. He walked three batters, all of whom scored, and a series of wild pitches contributed to the first three East Marietta runs.

Those were all the host team needed, although Combest also provided what little offense Milford managed: He walked in the second inning and reached second on a wild pitch.

Milford was far and away East Marietta’s toughest foe. East Marietta crushed Murphey Candler Blue, Murphey Candler Gold and Smyrna by a combined score of 61-13 but was never more than one big inning ahead of Milford in their two games. (Video webcasts of the tournament are archived here.)

As East Marietta assistant coach Michael Rooks told Milford’s manager, LJ Hargrove, after the game: “You’ve got a great team.”