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The Columbus Minor All-Star softball team advanced to the district championship game thanks to their stellar pitching.
They currently have a 5-0 record in the district tournament that includes three shutouts and two no hitters.
In their first two games of the tournament, the Minor All-Stars won both with a combined score of 30-1. The first game was a 13-0 shutout over Washington County, and Emri Chester struck out 10 batters in five innings of play.
In game two against Weimar, Perri Alexander and Landry Stancik combined to give up only one run, one hit while striking out seven batters. Chester also made an impact on this game, hitting the only home run in the game and their way to a 17-1 win.
Game three against Bellville was the first no hitter from the Minor All-Stars of the tournament. In an 18-0 win over Bellville, Alexander was in the circle for the Minor All-Stars.
She faced a total of 12 batters in three innings and struck out six of them while walking three baters giving up zero hits in the process. Her efforts in the circle inspired her teammates as they scored 14 runs in the bottom of the second inning to come away with their third win of the tournament.
The Minor All-Star team’s elite pitching continued in game four against Sealy. Chester was back in the circle for Columbus as she faced 24 batters in six innings, striking out 14 batters. This performance led Columbus to a 7-3 win over Sealy, bringing them to their fifth game against Burleson.
Against Burleson, Chester was back in the circle for Columbus. She played her best game of the tournament and almost threw a near perfect game, walking one batter. The most impressive part of Chester’s game against Burleson was that she faced 13 batters in this game and struck out 12 of them.
This pitching performance allowed Columbus’ offense to do their thing as they scored 11 runs in the first two innings of the game to improve to 5-0 with an 11-0 win over Burleson.
The Columbus Minor All-Stars are now awaiting their opponent in the championship game which will be the winner of the game between Sealy and Burleson. The championship game will be on Tuesday, June 23.
