June 24, 2007 — The Virgin Islands 9-10 Little League tournament championship was decided Sunday morning when the Elrod Hendricks West All-Stars from St. Thomas knocked off the Elmo Plaskett East All-Stars from St. Croix, 9-4 in the series bullet game at the Renholt "Rookie" Jackson Sports Complex in Estate Whim. The teams came into Sunday’s game with one win apiece after the Thomians took the opening contest on Friday by a score of 19-0 behind a dominant pitching performance by their ace Rashad Creque. The Crucians then bounced back to pull out a last inning win on Saturday to send the series to a third game. Unfortunately for the Crucians, Creque was back on the hill for St. Thomas Sunday morning and although not as dominant as he was on Friday, he was almost as good in pitching his team to the 9-4 series clincher.
The St. Thomas squad started fast as they reached Romani Hansen, the Elmo Plaskett East starter for five runs in the top of the first. The hard throwing Hansen had trouble finding the plate. By the time the inning ended he had given up five walks, but only two of the runs in the inning were earned. The Elmo Plaskett East All-Stars did something that they could not do on Friday in the bottom of the inning: they scored two runs against Creque to trail 5-2 after one inning. They scored two runs on an RBI double by Hansen and a pass ball.
A wild pitch gave the Thomians another run in the top of the second, and they now led 6-2 after two innings as the Crucians came up empty in the bottom of the inning.
A bases-loaded walk drawn by Creque in the top of the third plated another run for the Elrod Hendricks West All-Stars. The Elmo Plaskett East All-Stars answered with one in the bottom of the inning, and they trailed 6-3 at the end of three innings.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Elrod Hendricks West All-Stars scored their final two runs of the on a two run triple off the bat of Miker Adolfo to now lead 9-3. The Elmo Plaskett East All-Stars, needing to make something happen in the game, could only come up with one run in the bottom of the fifth. It would be their last threat of the game as both teams failed to score in the sixth inning.
Creque picked up his second win of the series for the Elrod Hendricks West All-Stars while Hansen got the loss for St. Croix’s Elmo Plaskett East All-Stars. Top hitters for the Elrod Hendricks West All-Stars were Creque, 2 for 2 with one RBI, and Adolfo, 1 for 2 with three RBIs. For the Elmo Plaskett East All-Stars, Romani Hansen was 2 for 3 with one RBI.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
