MURRAY — In the 2009 Babe Ruth Baseball 13-year-old World Series yesterday at Ken Price Park, Taylorsville jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and looked like they were going to put away the McComb, Miss., team in the first inning.
But in a game that went back and forth, Taylorsville eventually fell 11-8.
"Too many errors and too many walks," said manager Chet Nicholls. "That wasn't typical Taylorsville baseball."
He thought Mississippi got a little lucky also with a couple of swinging bunts. But he did acknowledge they killed Taylorsville on the base paths with numerous stolen bases.
And both teams executed a rare squeeze bunt to perfection.
The previous two games were blowouts invoking the 10-run rule. Pennsylvania and Indiana advanced in those two games.
Taylorsville's Hunter Smith collected two hits in five trips to the plate knocking in an RBI. Hitting honors were fairly evenly divided with Jordan Pendleton, who also had two hits and two RBIs. Zac Stepp knocked in two runs with his first-inning bases-loaded double and pitched well for the first couple of innings.
Tanner Whittington led Mississipppi, going 3-4 at the plate and pitching the last 11?3 innings to close out the win.
In spirit, Babe Ruth may or may not have been in the house, but his 1922 Pierce Arrow limousine was there.
Owner Steve Carr said both of Ruth's daughters have acknowledged the car's authenticity and the inside upholstery features Yankees logos. Carr lives in Arizona and has carried on the tradition of his uncle of featuring the automobile at the Babe Ruth World Series for 28 years.
Several national Babe Ruth league executives were on hand.
Leonard Hammer is a regional vice president from California and is the tournament director. He said, "Everything is first class here." He was particularly impressed with Ken Price Park.
Pool play continues daily through Wednesday, after which the six best teams will enter quarter-final play on Thursday. The two teams with the best record will receive a bye.
Murray was scheduled for the late game Saturday night.
e-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com