Team photo
Pictured (L-R) are (bottom row): Craig Broadbent, Marshall Smth, Chance Hudgins, Beau Brown, Matthew Taylor, John Kermit Laughrey, Mark Ghers and Brice Priestley. Standing are (coach) Keith Priestley, Jon Wheat, Jordan Trull, Drew Hayes, Clint Anderson, Greg Pruitt, (coach) Tim Broadbent, Jake Brown, Randy Lacey and (manager) Mike Brown.
 
The McKenzie 14-year-old Babe Ruth all stars, who won the 13-year-old small state in 2000 will be traveling to Kingsport to compete in the large state tournament against seven other teams this weekend.

In the district tournament, held in Humboldt July 2-July 6, McKenzie had a 6-1 lead until the final inning of the first game against the host team and lost 7-6. Drew Hayes was on the mound for McKenzie and pitched 6 and a third innings, striking out 14 Humboldt batters before they began to hit. Jordan Trull finished the game for McKenzie. Mark Ghyers and Beau Brown had two hits each while Hayes contributed three. Brice Priestley made a diving catch in center field for the final out of the game.

On Tuesday night, McKenzie gained an 11-7 win over Trenton with Jordan Trull pitching six innings and recording 12 strikeouts. Greg Pruitt pitched the final inning for the save. Randy Lacey led the team with two hits for the night while B. Brown, Clint Anderson, Trull, Craig Broadbent and Pruitt each connected for a single hit in the game.

Thursday night, the team faced Humboldt for a second time and this time won the game 6-2. With Lacey on the mound and going the distance, the McKenzie squad remained focused for a victory. Brown had three hits while Trull, Priestley, John Kermit Laughrey and Pruitt each connected for one. Lacey struck out 11 Humboldt batters.

In their fourth game, played on Friday against Milan, the McKenzie squad won an extra inning barn burner, 8-7. Trull pitched the regulation seven innings while B. Brown came in to pitch the eighth. Lacey and Jon Wheat each had two hits. McKenzie was down 6-5 in the top of the seventh inning when Pruitt hit a single and scored Wheat to tie the game. In the top of the eighth, Chance Hudgins walked and stole second; Brown made a sacrifice bunt to move Hudgins to third base. Anderson walked and stole second, giving McKenzie two baserunners. Trull bunted to score both runners and give McKenzie a two run lead. In the bottom of the inning, the defense allowed a single run, but the extra run scored gave McKenzie the victory. In other highlights, Jake Brown made a diving play in right field to begin the game and rob Milan of a certain base hit. Trull, Priestley and Broadbent had hits for the game. This win guaranteed McKenzie an opportunity to move to the area tournament in Troy.

In the first (of a possible two game series) and only game with Lexington, McKenzie was hot, tired and exhaunted due to extreme heat and having just won a slim victory over Milan when they faced Lexington, a team they would have to defeat twice to win the district title. Lexington played extremely well and took a 17-3 win and the title. The McKenzie players were also hampered by a lack of pitching, having come so far through the loser's bracket to be in this position. As Coach Mike Brown stated, "The whole team was tired mentally and physically from the battle with Milan. Lacey was eligible to pitch, but we chose not to use him since he had pitched on Thursday." The team had made it to the area tournament and chose to take their chances there.
Once in Troy on Monday, July 9, the McKenzie all stars were ready to play once a storm delay gave them an opportunity to catch up on the news. Lacey started for McKenzie and pitched two innings before leaving with a sore arm. Mark Ghyers completed the game, pitching three innings. Coach Brown noted, "Mark only recorded two K's, but kept the hitters off balance with a good mix of fast balls and breaking pitches as well as good location."
 

After two innings, McKenzie was down 2-0 when umpires suspended the game in the bottom of the third due to lightning. Laughrey was on second and Pruitt at the plate with one strike at the time of the delay. After approximately one hour, the game with Obion County resumed and Pruitt sacrificed bunted Laughrey to third and B. Brown bunted and was unable to beat the throw to first, but scored Laughrey and tied the game. At that time the team began to hit very well with Ghyers, Hayes and Trull getting base hits and by the end of the third inning, McKenzie was winning the game 7-1. Four more runs were added in the fourth inning with Pruitt getting a single, B. Brown walking, Ghyers getting a triple, Hayes was hit by a pitch and then Lacey doubled. Jake Brown led off the fifth with a walk and later scored after hits by Broadbent and Pruitt. McKenzie won the match 12-2 in five innings.

McKenzie was now faced with at least two games against Lexington, who had left-handed pitching. Since the local team had not had much experience against a lefty, McKenzie Rebel junior high coach Josh Kee volunteered to pitch for the team at batting practice on Wednesday night prior to the team's final game on Thursday.

In the Tuesday game with Lexington, McKenzie picked up an 8-4 victory. Trull completed the game with eight strikeouts. After three innings, McKenzie trailed 3-1, but in the fourth inning, they tied the game with hits from Anderson, Priestley and Broadbent. In the fifth inning, Hayes led off with a double, Anderson and Trull each had singles and two more runs were scored, giving McKenzie a 5-4 lead after five full innings of action. Pruitt and Ghyers led off the sixth inning with walks and were then scored by a Hayes double and he scored on a single by Trull.

Following a strong night of batting practice against left-hander Kee, the McKenzie squad again traveled to Troy to meet Lexington. Brown stated that a large contingent of fans came from McKenzie to provide a good fan base and cheer the team on. Hayes was on the mound for McKenzie and recorded two strikeouts while allowing only two hits. Lexington did start a left-hander and information supplied by Kee the previous evening paid off. McKenzie had only four players that were struck out the entire game and recorded four steals to second base while getting the Lexington pitcher to balk at least one time.

McKenzie picked up a run in the second inning on hits from Anderson and Broadbent. Hayes retired the first two Lexington hitters in the second and Marshall Smith then made a shoestring catch in right field to thwart a base hit and score the third out. McKenzie led 1-0.
Pruitt, B. Brown, Hayes, Trull and Anderson each gained hits in the third inning and McKenzie picked up three additional runs while Lexington had three up and three down. After three, McKenzie led 4-0. Lexington did pick up a run in the bottom of the fourth to narrow the margin to 4-1.

In the fifth inning, Trull walked, Anderson got a hit and Broardbent recorded a sacrifice bunt which led to two additional runs and a 6-1 lead for McKenzie. Lexington countered with a single run to narrow the lead to 6-2.

In the sixth inning, McKenzie gained four more runs on a walk by Pruitt, a bunt by Brown and hits by Ghyers, Hayes and Anderson. Lexington failed to score in either of the final two innings, giving McKenzie a 10-2 win, an area title and they advanced to the state tournament in Kingsport.

Coach Brown noted that pitching for the two tournaments was outstanding as the McKenzie pitching staff recorded 71 strikeouts. The defense has also played well, turning double plays and they also made diving catches in the outfield. The batters made contact well or took walks and were willing to hit a sacrifice bunt for the team efforts. Brown also noted his pride in the way the McKenzie squad conducted themselves on the field and did not get caught up in "trash talk" generated occasionally by opposing teams. McKenzie will probably play at 2:30 Saturday afternoon in Kingsport against an unknown opponent.