Blacksburg Baseball Association

The Blacksburg O-Zone team beat Montgomery County 13-1 to claim the District three 11-12 year old O-Zone Championship.  In just ten full years of Dixie Youth play, the Blacksburg franchise has now won seven District Championships.  The Bruins have won district titles in 2002, 2004, 2005, (2) in 2007, 2008, and 2010. 

Pitchers Hal Hughes and Bryce Nicolau gave up just six hits and registered 4 Ks.  Hughes pitched 4 innings and scattered 5 hits with 3Ks, while Nicolau gave up just one hit and had 1 K.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Blacksburg would strike first, scoring one run to take the lead 1-0.  Nicolau walked, advanced to 2nd on a balk, stole 3rd, and scored on a past ball for the games first run. 

The Bruins added another run in the 3rd to increase their lead to 2-0.  Grayson Shelton got things going with a single, and after two walks, Shelton would score on a Parker Walters RBI single.

Blacksburg broke the game open in the 4th by batting completely through the order and scoring four runs to increase their lead to 6-0.  Ethan Goforth started the rally with a single and then stole second and third to later score on a balk.  The inning was highlighted by a RBI triple by Adam Linkous.  Jacob Nottingham drew a bases loaded walk to notch a RBI for scoring Andrew Roberson, who had also reached via a walk.  

Blacksburg added four more runs in the 5th to make the score 10-1.  Bryce Nicolau reached base via a walk, and Jack Madigan followed with a double.  Jake Verniel hit a RBI sacrifice to score Nicolau.  Linkous hit a ground rule double to score Madigan, who would later score on a passed ball.  Roberson singled and later scored on a RBI single by Shelton.

In the top of the 6th, the Bruins scored three more runs to make the score 13-1.  Goforth hit a ground rule double and would score on a Madigan RBI double.  Verniel hit a RBI double, scoring Madigan.  Linkous added a RBI sacrifice to score Verniel.

Offensively, Blacksburg was led by Adam Linkous who was 2/4 with a triple, a double, and three RBIs.  Grayson Shelton reached base all three times he went to the plate, going 2/2 with two singles and drawing a walk.  Andrew Roberson was 2/3 with two singles.  Jack Madigan and Ethan Goforth, were 2/4.  Madigan had two doubles and Goforth had a double and a single.  

Ethan Goforth, Bryce Nicolau, Jack Madigan, Jake Verniel, Adam Linkous, and Andrew Roberson all scored two runs each.

Blacksburg advances to the Dixie State Tournament and will have the very unique opportunity of playing in front of a very large crowd as they play host Madison Heights @ 7:30 on Friday July 16th.  When Madison Heights hosted the World Series in 2007, over 12,000 locals came to watch their Dixie team play.