R&T Auto batters circled the bases six times, including once after a walk, in the Park Department Little League Tournament championship.
Gram Spain hit three homers, Nash Bunton and Skyler Lott also touched them all to back a three-hit shutout by Quinn Spain as R&T Auto beat top-seeded Innovative Orthodontics 12-0 Thursday at McLane Park.
“It was a rough season but these boys never gave up,” said R&T Auto coach Ron Bunton.
R&T Auto was the third seed in the tournament, knocking off Ozark Total Healthcare 6-5 in the semifinal Monday.
Lott got things going Thursday with one out in the top of the first when he hit a 1-0 pitch to right field. As he rounded third base, Lott was popping a bubble of gum and easing across the plate.
Gram followed a batter later with a shot to center that allowed him to race around for a 2-0 lead.
Quinn Spain’s RBI double scored Janssen Goins after a leadoff walk in the second. Kameron Holland later drew a two-out walk and headed to second when the pitched ended up hitting the backstop allowing Goins to score. Holland kept running on a throwing error and ended up scoring on an inside-the-park walk for a 5-0 lead.
“We practiced that stuff,” Bunton said of being aggressive running bases.
Bunton said his team practiced three times a week for two hours at a time.
“We practiced all year long,” he added. “It pays off.”
R&T Auto got out of a two-on, no-out jam in the first inning when Austin Lawson led off with a hit to the right side and Cayden Thoeming-Garner reached on a fielder’s choice to the right side.
Quinn Spain settled in and struck out the next three hitters to leave the runners stranded in scoring position.
Spain struck out 10 and walked one, allowing three hits and five total base runners on 60 pitches.
“Our pitching was phenomenal all year long,” Lawson said.
Innovative Orthodontics went in order in the second with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to the shortstop. Thoeming-Garner’s hit in the third snapped a run of eight straight outs but R&T Auto ended the inning with a groundout to the first baseman.
Trailing 12-0 and looking to extend the game, Gavin Lane walked to start the fourth before Tanner Hastings one-out single. With runners in scoring position again, Spain struck out the next two hitters to end the game early.
R&T Auto scored four runs in the third after a leadoff single by Bunton, who scored on Gram Spain’s homer to left. Karter Brown’s two-out RBI hit down the left-field line made it 8-0 and he later scored on a pitch to the screen.
Burton hit a two-run homer in the fourth followed by another inside-the-park homer by Spain for a 12-0 lead.
Along with 11 hits, R&T Auto drew 10 walks.
Innovative Orthodontics starter RJ Fortenberry struck out six before reaching his pitch limit in the third. Thoeming-Garner fanned two in relief. Innovative Orthodontics caught two runners trying to steal home.
The Innovative Orthodontics outfield was missing an extra fielder with only nine players in the lineup with three players missing, coach David Lawson said.