Mud Dawgs second at Salina Slugfest
Marion County Mud Dawgs, an 11-and-under team from Marion, took second place this past weekend at the Salina Slugfest baseball tournament in Salina.
They opened pool play Saturday morning by dropping the first game to the Salina Stingrays, 7-1, in a game in which the Mud Dawgs could not get a single base hit.
The second game of the day pitted the Mud Dawgs against the Saline County Sharks. Bret Voth picked up the only hit for the Marion boys in that game. However it proved to be enough, and the Mud Dawgs found a way to win, 6-4.
Sunday was a new day and Mud Dawgs finally found their bats. Facing the same Stingray team that had beat them the day before, Marion played superb in all phases of the game and beat the Stingrays soundly by the score of, 8-1.
Grif Case led the way at the plate going 3-3 with two doubles, while Troy Higgs went 2-3 in the contest.
The pitching combo of Higgs and Dylan Seacat shut down the Stingrays, who were the tourney favorites coming into the contest.
Championship game
In a strange turn of events, the Mud Dawgs found themselves in the championship game facing the same Shark team they had beat the day before.
The Sharks had already played twice on Sunday coming from the bottom of the bracket. However, they dug deep and scored five quick runs in the first inning and the Mud Dawgs never could come back.
The Sharks won the game 11-6 and clinched first place in the tourney. The Mud Dawgs will be in action again this weekend in Hillsboro.
