Greenville’s 11-12-year-old Dixie Youth All-Star team continuously displayed its strengths throughout the District 6 Tournament in Geneva last week.

Unfortunately the hometown team finished one win short of advancing to the state tournament in Boaz.

In a back-and-forth battle Monday, Luverne defeated Greenville 11-7 to claim the District 6 championship.

&uot;Luverne had a super team,&uot; Burkett said. &uot;They’re a very good hitting ball team and had a variety of pitchers. They kept us really off balanced.&uot;

Luverne jumped out quick on Greenville scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Greenville answered back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second inning before Luverne’s Seth Wood hit a two-run blast to lead his team back on top 6-4 in the three-run inning.

Greenville’s Ryan Smith slapped a two-run shot over the center field fence to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Luverne and Greenville both scored one run in the sixth inning to remain tied. Chance Hall belted a two-run shot in the top half of the seventh, which was followed by two more scores to give Luverne a commanding 11-7 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. Greenville was unable to produce any runs in the bottom of the inning and Luverne claimed the title.

Including the sub-district 6 tournament in Georgiana, Greenville and Luverne split four games, each winning two.

&uot;I wish there was a fifth game,&uot; Burkett said.

Despite the district title loss, Greenville played very well throughout All-Stars. The Greenville bunch won the sub-district title in Georgiana a few weeks ago with a win over Luverne.

&uot;They played absolutely fantastic,&uot; Assistant Coach Ken Burkett said. &uot;It just says a lot for our sub-district for Luverne and Greenville to go over to Geneva against those other two districts. Troy National and Enterprise American were the favorite and we went over there and put Enterprise out and they took care of Troy.&uot;

Dustin Till was the winning pitcher in the sub-district championship game. He struck out eight batters, gave up two hits and also finished with a solo homer and a single at the plate.

Shortstop Todd Burkett also slapped a solo homerun with a 2-for-3 performance at the dish. He also finished with a single and three RBI.

Right fielder Cordez Peagler and catcher Ryan Smith also finished 2-for-3 at the dish with two singles each. Peagler finished with two RBI and Smith added three RBI.

District Recap

Greenville claimed an 11-10 win over Slocomb in a wild game to open up the tournament on July 12.

Todd Burkett led Greenville with a two-run blast.

On July 13, Greenville claimed a 6-2 second-round win over Enterprise.

Smith led the home team as he went 2-for-3 with two singles and two RBI. Todd Burkett picked up the win on the mound as he struck out eight, gave up two hits and surrendered no walks. Dustin Till got the save.

Last Friday night, Greenville suffered a 5-2 loss to Luverne, which gave up only two hits in the game.

Till led Greenville with a two-run home run to cut into Luverne’s lead, 4-2. Stephen Till chipped in with a single.

Greenville eliminated Enterprise on Saturday as Till, Todd Burkett and Dustin Shell combined to pitch an 8-0 shutout.

Peagler paced Greenville’s offense with a grand slam in the first inning.