By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

THOMASTON – They knew what they had to do.

After falling to Thomaston-Upson County on Saturday in the Dixie Youth Baseball 9-10-year-old district tournament, the margin of error was gone for the Troup National all-stars.

If Troup was going to capture the district title, it would have to win three consecutive games.

Troup made it happen.

Troup claimed the district championship with Tuesday’s 8-2 victory over Thomaston, and it finished with a 4-1 record in the tournament.

After losing to Thomaston, Troup won its next three games by a combined score of 33-3.

“We told them we’d just take it one step at a time (after Saturday’s loss),” said Troup head coach Jason Willis. “That’s what they did. We had a practice Sunday and came together, and they did exactly what we asked them to do. You just take each step, one game at a time.”

Next up for Troup will be the Dixie Youth Baseball state tournament in Cochran on July 5.

Thomaston, by virtue of its second-place finish, is also headed to the state tournament.

In Tuesday’s championship game, Troup did a lot of the damage in the second inning when it broke it open with six runs.

Troup didn’t score again, but it didn’t need to thanks to the exceptional pitching of Chase Mosley and Torreion Delaney.

Mosley pitched into the fifth inning before he reached his pitch limit, and Delaney got the final four outs.

Both pitchers were backed up by some outstanding defense, both on the infield and in the outfield.

In the second inning, right fielder Blake Miller made a terrific running catch with two outs and the bases loaded.

Had the ball dropped, Thomaston would have scored at least one more run, but instead it remained a 2-2 game.

In the fourth inning, it was second baseman Cason Spears chasing down a pop-up for the all-important first out of an inning.

Offensively, Troup did all of its scoring in the first two innings.

Troup plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning before pushing six runs across in the second.

The first-inning rally started with a Mosley walk, and Brady Willis reached on a one-out single to put two men on.

With two outs, Kaleb Woodson legged out an infield single for an RBI, and a second run scored when the throw to first went awry.

Troup went to work in the second inning, scoring six runs to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

A base hit by Spears jump-started the decisive rally, and Nolan Haines followed with a walk before Kaiden Russell loaded the bases with a single.

Next up was Woods Carter, and his single drove in two runs to give Troup a 4-2 lead.

With two outs, Mosley worked his way on with a walk, and Torreion Delaney then ripped the ball into left field to drive in two more runs.

Brady Willis capped the rally with a two-run single, giving Troup an 8-2 cushion.

Troup had its chances after that. Troup put two men on in the third inning and couldn’t score, and Russell was left stranded after leading off the fourth with a double.

Thomaston was unable to get back into the game, though, and when Delaney retired the side in the top of the sixth, the celebration was on.

TEAM MEMBERS: Chase Mosley, Kaleb Woodson, Brady Willis, Brody Swanson, Torreion Delaney, Cason Spears, Nolan Haines, Kaiden Russell, EJ Facille, Blake Miller, Cass Fuller and Woods Carter. Jason Willis is the head coach, and the assistants are Charles Mosley, Bill Bush, Jerry Willis and Hilton Swanson.