Bill Anderson Sports Editor The Little River Conference Baseball Tournament started a day earlier than originally scheduled and started on Wednesday instead of Thursday.

The Tournament had two locations: Moss and Varnum.

At Moss on Wednesday, the Sasakwa Viking faced the Paden Pirates. The Vikings run-ruled the Pirates in a 14-2 win. Sasakwa jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first inning and dominated the second with Titus Collins hitting a grand of the third and the game was called. The pitcher for Sasakwa was Titan Collins going 1 run, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.

The Vikings faced the #8 Moss Pirates on Thursday and fell 1-13. With the one loss, the Vikings played for the Runner Up Championship Friday.

At Varnum on Wednesday, the Bowlegs Bison faced the Mason Eagles in a tough battle. The Bison came up short and fell 15-25.

The Strother Yellowjackets faced the New Lima Falcons Wednesday and fell just short with a final score of 5-7. The Jackets then moved to face the Macomb Hornets on Thursday and run-ruled the Hornets 17-1. The Jackets never left the field and faced the Mason Eagles and posted a shutout victory with a final score of 11-0.

The Yellowjackets played for the Consolation Championship Friday.

The Varnum Whippets started their tournament facing the Mason Eagles on Wednesday and dominated the game 16-2. Varnum’s Aiden Cooper hit a grand slam in the first inning to help the Whippets go 11-0 in the inning. The Eagles scored 2 runs at the top of the second, but Varnum put the game away with five more runs at the bottom of the frame. Jayce Sheffield pitched for the Whippets going 2 runs, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Varnum played the New Lima Falcons Thursday evening and fell behind early. By the end of the second inning, Varnum was down by five runs. The Whippets made a rally at the bottom of the sixth inning with four runs scored but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Falcons lead. New Lima won 6-5.

Varnum suffered their first loss of the season but moved on to face the Sasakwa Vikings for the Runner Up Championship.

The New Lima Falcons started their tournament off by facing the Strother Yellowjackets on Wednesday. The game was close, but the Falcons pulled out the victory with a 7-5 score.

The Falcons moved on to face the undefeated Varnum Whippets on Thursday night. The Falcons went to bat first and scored two runs with Logan Heard hitting a homerun knocking in runner Alex Leaver. Varnum closed the gap with a single run at the bottom of the inning. Leaver hits a homerun of his own at the top of the second to help the Falcons pull away in the inning.

Neither team scored through the next three innings. Varnum rallied back at the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn’t enough as the Falcons hold on to win 6-5.

New Lima faced the Moss Pirates for the Championship of the LRC Tournament Friday afternoon.