CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville National 10-12U little league team faced off against Morristown in game two of the winner’s bracket on Sunday. A back and forth dogfight culminated in National scoring five runs in the fifth to pull away a 7-3 victory, putting Clarksville two wins from a state title.
Clarksville National got on the board early, with a two-run homer from Luke Sundstrom in the first, putting them on the board first. After that, runs were hard to come by, as both pitchers got into a groove.
Head coach Matt Sundstrom was proud of his team for staying in the game even when they couldn’t get runs across the plate.
“I tell them all the time, within the game there is a lot of different battles,” said Sundstrom. “Your not gonna win every battle, your gonna make mistakes. The key is to try win the next battle, and that’s what they did today.”
John Kent pitched 4.1 innings for National, allowing two runs on two hits, while striking out three. Morristown scratched those two runs across in the third, and the teams headed to the bottom of the fifth knotted at two. With two outs, Bo Parcells ripped a ball over the fence for a three-run homer, breaking the game open, and National would add two more runs in the fifth to blow the game open. While Morristown would attempt to comeback, they could only scratch one run across in the sixth, and fell short, with National winning 7-3.
“We just kept grinding,” said Sundstrom. “They kept their head down and kept playing. Defensively we just kept the ball in front of us, then we started hitting the ball a little bit, and good things happened for us.”
Clarksville National is now two wins away from a state title. They will play Goodlettsville on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the right to advance to the state championship. Despite the win, Sundstrom’s message to his team hasn’t changed.
“One game at a time, don’t make it more than it is,” said Sundstrom. “You work at practice, and you play the game. Have fun, play the game, and everything will be alright.”
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