The 2013 Dixie Debs State Championship Tournament kicked off in Dillon this weekend with opening ceremonies on Friday and first round games on Saturday and Sunday.

The opening ceremony was held on Friday at the City of Dillon Wellness Center. Eight teams are competing in the tournament, including Latta, Pee Dee, Union, Georgetown, Florence, Lewisville, Clarendon County, and Marlboro County. Each team enjoyed a meal provided by Zaxby’s with welcoming remarks from various city and tournament officials.

Rain delays forced some changes to the schedule on Saturday, pushing the games back one hour. Union and Georgetown kicked things off with Georgetown taking an 8-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Georgetown’s Ashley Cox hit a grounder to right field to pick up two runners and then stole second and third to score on a sacrifice hit. With the bases loaded, Kelly Bauchmann walked and Meredith Venters hit a grounder past the short stop to put Georgetown ahead 8-0 with two hits and three runners left on base.

Cox took the mound for Georgetown in the second and Union’s Kayleigh Duckett led off with a double to right center. Abigail Vlack walked and was thrown out at second, allowing the runner at third to score for Union’s first run.

In the bottom of the second, Georgetown’s Katie Ford hit a hard one down the third base line for a double and two RBI, and Venters hit a long one to center for a double and one runner batted in. Courtney Cooper hit a sacrifice grounder to score another runner, and by the end of the second, Georgetown was ahead 15-1 with four runs on seven hits in the inning and two runners on base. In the third, Georgetown improved the lead to 16-2, which would be the final score after four and a half innings.

In the second game of the tournament, Florence blew out Marlboro County 24-0 in three innings. Florence carried a 16-0 lead into the third inning where they scored eight runs on five hits, including a triple from Katelin Ivey.

Game 3 saw Pee Dee shut out the Latta Debs 10-0. Pee Dee led 7-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth and led 8-0 after five.

In the fourth game, Lewisville defeated Clarendon County 13-5. After a scoreless first inning, Lewisville hit a grounder to the short stop to pick up an RBI for a 1-0 lead, finishing the second with one run on two hits with two runners left on base. Clarendon loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and scored one runner on a hit by pitch and two more on a grounder. A fly to left took out one runner, but a the next batter hit one over second to load the bases. Clarendon scored another on a grounder before the end of the inning, getting four runs off four hits with two runners left on base for a 4-1 lead. Lewisville rallied for the win in later innings.

Due to the weather, the game scheduled for Saturday evening were postponed until Sunday, with Marlboro defeating Union 11-8 in game five and Clarendon County eliminating Latta 10-5 in game six. In the winners bracket, Georgetown defeated Florence 15-10, and Pee Dee defeated Lewisville 8-0.

On Sunday evening, Lewisville blew out Marlboro County 17-6 to advance and Clarendon County shut out Florence 6-0 in the elimination bracket while Georgetown edged Pee Dee 4-3 in the winners bracket.

Georgetown was set to take on Lewisville at 8:00 p.m. on Monday and Pee Dee was set to face Clarendon County at 6:00 p.m. The winners of Mondays games were scheduled to face each other today at 10:00 a.m. for the state title. If necessary, a second game will be played thirty minutes after the first ends. Be sure to visit us online at thedillonherald.com for the latest playoff updates!

Photos by Johnnie Daniels/THE DILLON HERALD. Click images below to view at full size!