Comeback Kids

Call them the “Comeback Kids”. Two years ago, the Williamsburg Minor League All-Stars lost to Middlesboro in the first-round of the area tournament and came back to win the consolation bracket and advance to the District Tournament. Last year some of those boys moved up to the Little League All-Stars and they lost in the first-round of the Area Three Tournament but came back to win the consolation bracket. And once again Williamsburg lost to Middlesboro in last week’s tourney opener but has come back to win the consolation bracket.
Williamsburg rolled past Jellico 17-1 Friday night at the Middlesboro Little League Field then edged the Knox County All-Stars 6-3. They defeated Pineville-Bell County 13-3 in four innings to complete the comeback.
Williamsburg is scheduled to play in the District Four Tournament in Hazard this week. No details were available at presstime but will be posted on the website (williamsburgnewsjournal.com) once the pairings are announced.
Williamsburg 17, Jellico 1
Boston Bryant and Dylan Abner combined for a two-hitter as Williamsburg rolled to a four-inning win over Jellico, 17-1.
Bryant also did the damage at the plate, going four for four with four runs scored. He also drove in five runs with two doubles. Abner was three for three while C. J. Jones was two for three with three runs scored.
Williamsburg scored twice in the top of the first then added six runs in the second for an 8-0 lead. They put the game away in the fourth with seven runs.
“The win over Jellico was a big boost to the team,” said David Bryant.
Williamsburg 6, Knox County 3
Coach David Bryant said of this game, “C.J. Jones pitched one heck of a game. He was the difference in this game.”
While Jones and the defense got things off to a good start it was the Williamsburg bats that proved to be the difference.
In the top of the second, Cody Perkins led off with a single followed by Chris Lowery being hit by a pitch. Hunter Williams drove in the two with a double down the leftfield line.
Williamsburg added two runs in the top of the third when J.P. Payne led off with a single. Jones followed with a run-scoring triple. Bryant later hit a double to score Jones and Williamsburg led 4-0.
Williams would cross the plate in the top of the fourth, giving Williamsburg a 5-0 lead. He walked then went to second on a passed ball. He scored on a Payne base hit.
Knox County rallied in the bottom of the fifth for three runs and closed the gap to 5-3 heading into the final frame.
Payne hit a two-out double in the top of the sixth and Jones followed with a single and RBI to account for the final run.
Williamsburg 13, Pineville 3
Williamsburg broke open a close game in the third inning to pull away from Pineville-Bell County, 13-3.
In the top of the first, Williamsburg took the lead for good when Payne and Bryant led off the inning with back to back doubles. Bryant later scored on a walk to Perkins and a Lowery two-run single.
Pineville closed the gap to one run, 3-2 entering the top of the third. But an eight-run third put the game away.
With one out, Bryant, Perkins, Lowery, Abner and Williams had consecutive singles. But it was Cory Newsome’s two-run triple that cleared the bases in front of him.
Jalen Dobson followed with a walk. Payne then drove in Newsome and Dobson for a 11-2 lead.
Thanks to a two-run homer by Abner, Williamsburg was able to put the game away in four innings.
“I wasn’t surprised we came out of the consolation bracket,” added Bryant. “I thought the three teams in our bracket were pretty even. Anyone of us could have come out and beat the other on any given day.”

Williamsburg 262 7- 17
Jellico 000 1- 1
Bryant, Abner (4) and Lowery.

Williamsburg 022 101- 6 10
Knox Co. 000 030- 3 5
C.J. Jones and Perkins. WP-Jones. 2B-Williams (W), Bryant (W), Payne (W). 3B-Jones (W).

Williamsburg 308 2- 13
Pineville-Bell 111 0- 3
Perkins and Lowery. WP-Perkins. 2B-Payne (W), Bryant (W). 3B-Newsome (W). HR-Abner (W).