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The Stache survived in a close game with a few controversial calls against the Royals, while the Piñatas buried the Shovels in a 14-run win. 

The Championship game is tomorrow, Aug. 22 at Grider Field. According to the tournament bracket, first pitch will be at 7 p.m.

Piñatas end Shovels season 16-2

The Piñatas put on a show tallying 14 hits and walking twice to score 16 runs. They had lost the two regular season matchups with the Shovels, one by a score of 2-10 and the other 6-8. JD Parker led the Piñatas with three hits, including a double. Ryan Edwards also had three hits. Brady Nugent and Luke Davidson had a pair of hits each. Davidson had the other extra-base hit with a double. Parker Gunn, Vann Boyce, AJ Parker and Reed Emerson had singles. Colby Presley led the team in walks with two. Davidson, Gunn, Boyce and Emerson each had one. Presley was on the mound for the Piñatas and he pitched all seven innings. He allowed four hits, one earned run, walked five batters and struck out 11.

The Shelbvul Shovels had four hits, each by a different player. Jay Blackburn, Gage Underwood, Austin Johnson and Jacob Hawkins all had a single. The team drew five walks, led by Jacob Cooper with two. Dylan Roller and Hawkins had the other two. Hawkins started the game pitching and went two innings. He struck out two, walked two, allowed four hits and three earned runs. Underwood relieved him and went three innings. Underwood struck out two, walked two, allowed four hits and three earned runs. Jesse Clanton took the bump next for one inning. He struck out two, walked two, gave up five hits and seven earned runs, Cooper finished the game with an innings giving up one hit.

In the first round of the playoffs the Shovels piled it on the Outlaws, winning 16-1 in three innings. They scored nine runs in the first inning. Johnson, Hawkins, Blake Smith, Jacob Price and Nick Hopper all had doubles in the game. The team totaled 12 hits and walked four times. Hawkins pitched all three innings, striking out five. The one run scored was unearned. The Piñatas beat the Braves 4-1 in the first round. AJ Parker threw a complete game with eight strike outs. The only Braves’ run was scored in the seventh on a home run by Troy Harp. The Piñatas scored all four runs in the third inning. Three of the four runs were unearned.  Juan Trinidad was pitching for the Braves and he went the entire game on the mound with nine strike outs.

Stache survive Royals 4-2

The Stache caught some breaks and took advantage of them in the semifinals. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth and a 2-1 lead, they got the bases loaded for J King. He hit a ball down the first base foul line, and the ball landed close to the foul line. The home plate umpire called the ball fair, continuing the two out rally and making it 3-1. In the next at-bat the Stache added another run with a ground ball that was beat out at first to take a 4-1 lead into the sixth. In the top of the sixth, the Royals had three singles in a row to open the inning. They scored to make it 4-2. Still in the inning with two men on, another ball was hit down the first base line with the first base umpire over at second. The ball landed very close to the foul line and kicked something up. It was hard to discern whether the substance was dirt or white chalk, but the umpires called the ball foul and the Royals left both baserunners stranded to end the inning. During the bottom of the inning a Royals player and a fan in the stands were kicked out by umpires for arguing a missed runners interference call on a potential double play.

The Stache had seven team hits and three walks. Logan Underhill and Kevin Moritz led the way with two hits each. Moritz had the team’s only double. Layne Roberts, Chayse Frye and Jax King had the other hits. Roberts had the only other extra-base knock with a triple in the fifth inning. Lee Carden, King and Noah Fann drew a walk each. Roberts was on the mound for the Stache and went all seven innings. He struck out six, walked two and allowed four hits.

The Royals were led by Terrin Maupin and Corey Mullins. Maupin led the team with two hits. Mullins and Tyler Cavender had one. Jeff Riddle drew the Royals only two walks. Mullins pitched 4.1 innings striking out five. He walked two and gave up five hits. Danny Martinez pitched the last 1.2 innings and allowed two hits and walked one batter.

The Royals beat the Reds 10-2 in the first round to advance. They racked up 10 hits, including a double from Cavender and Maupin. Timothy Henderson pitched the complete game with 10 strike outs. The Reds had four hits, three from Jay Phillips and the other from Chevis Hoover. The Stache beat up on the Pink Sox 15-3 to advance to the semifinals. They scored eight runs in the first, three in the second and four in the third. Frye, Dylan Ward, King, Carden and Sean Whinnery all doubled. Frye doubled twice. Darius Robison, Carlos Medina and Skyler Hood had the hits for the Pink Sox. Robison doubled.