Article
The Mason Dixon Blaze Red 14U captured second place in the Gold Bracket of the Keystone Cup recently in Hagerstown, Md. The Blaze outscored its opponents 42-1 in Saturday pool play, which earned them the top seed heading into championship play on Sunday. The Blaze opened pool play with a 8-0 shutout over the River City Rippers. The Blaze shut out Tri-County Thunder 17-0, then outscored Champions Red 17-1 securing the top seed. The Blaze opened Sunday elimination play as it scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to best PA Alley Cats Blue 8-3, which earned them a spot in the championship game against Ashburn Shooting Stars Black. The Blaze fell behind 6-0 before closing the gap to 6-3, then Ashburn scored five more runs in the final inning to claim the championship. The Blaze had a team batting average of .430 including Rachel Kline (.555, 2HR), Katie Shaak (.533, 2HR), Jenna Crunkleton (.500), Julie Garlick (.467, 1HR), Brittany Norling (.417), Diamond Byers (.375, 1HR), Shayla Murray (.353, 1HR), Erin Garns (.571). Kline earned two wins in the circle while Garns and Murray each garnered a win. The Blaze improved its overall tournament record to 23 wins and 4 losses. From left, are: first row - Brittany Norling and Julie Garlick; second row - Shayla Murray, Diamond Byers and Jenna Crunkleton; third row - Katie Shaak, Rachel Kline, Shayna Baughman and Karah Knight; fourth row - coaches Joe Garns, Rodney Byers, Bob Kline and Greg Crunkleton. Missing from the photo is team member Erin Garns