10U Diamonds, 8U Fury claim titles to start Copperas Cove city league championships

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Parks and Recreation city baseball and softball championships got underway last week with teams vying for a spot in the Texas Teen-Age Baseball and Softball District Tournament.
The Fury, who finished the season 6-3 for the second-place spot, eliminated the Diamonds in the first round 3-0 last Thursday before edging the first-place Outlaws 5-2 in Saturday’s title game.
Both the Outlaws and the Fury advance to the District 4 tournament in McGregor beginning June 24.
The Diamonds finished in last place during the regular season with a 1-6-2 record but shut out their competition on their way to the title in the city championships.
The 10-and-under Diamonds opened up post-season play with a 13-0 shutout of the Rebels (2-7-1) before taking out the undefeated Fury (9-0) in a 2-0 contest in round two to set up a title bout with the Sluggers (6-2-1), who were runners up in the regular season.
The Diamonds’ Janelle Little pitched a shutout and had an RBI to help her team take the title game on Wednesday and qualify for the District 6 tournament to be held in Gatesville beginning June 24. 
In the girls’ 12-and-under division, the top two regular season teams from Copperas Cove qualify for the District 7 tournament to be held in Killeen. The Fury finished first with a 9-1 record while the Outlaws (6-4) finished third behind Lampasas’ Bat Attitude.
The boys got their post-season underway this week as well.
The 10-team, 10-and-under tournament began last Saturday with the Astros (1-8 West) narrowly defeating the Marlins (2-7 West) in a 7-5 contest to advance.
The D-backs beat the Red Sox 9-3 in the other 6 p.m. game while the Giants (5-5 East) and Yankees (8-2 West) each earned shutouts in the 7:15 p.m. games. The Giants beat the Athletics (5-3-1 East) and the Yankees beat the Rangers (3-6 East) with a 6-0 final.
The title game is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 26 at City Park’s Field 1
The 12-and-under tournament also began on Wednesday with the Rangers (4-3-2) defeating the Rangers (4-3-2) in a 10-4 contest while the D-Backs (4-5-1) edged the Tigers (4-5) in an 11-10 game.
The championship game will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, June 24 at City Park’s Field 6.
The 10-team, 8-and-under playoffs began last night (no results at press time). The Red Sox (2-6-2) took on the White Sox (2-8), the Brewers (4-5-1) faced the Giants (1-7-2), the Astros (4-4-2) faced the D-Backs (4-4-2) and the Athletics (4-4-2) took on the Cardinals (3-3-4). The undefeated Marlins (10-0) and the Rangers (8-1-1) received first round byes. 
The 8-and-under playoffs continue on Saturday beginning at 1:05 p.m. on City Park’s Field 1. The 8-and-under title game is slated for 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 25 on Field 2. 
For a full schedule of the games, visit http://ccpard.com/sites/copperascove/schedules.