Sluggers still winning at state tourney, boys’ district tournaments concluded

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Sluggers had a solid start to their state bid at the 20-team 12-and-under state softball tournament in Denison yesterday morning. The team kept its undefeated streak intact with a dominant 15-2 win over the Hico Havoc in Monday’s opener. 
The Sluggers played game two late last night against hometown Denison We Got The Runs team. The results were unavailable at press time. With a win, they will face the winner of the Groebeck Chiglo and Denison Daddy Ball matchup tonight at 8 p.m. A loss will be their first of the season and send them to the loser’s bracket with a 6 p.m. first pitch. The state championship game is slated for 9 a.m. on Friday, July 13.
Copperas Cove didn’t fare too well in the boys’ district competitions.
In the 10-and-under competition held in Gatesville, the Copperas Cove Rangers and Red Sox saw some early success with opening round wins over the McGregor Jetts and McGregor Renegades, respectively, while the Dodgers and Astros saw first round losses. The Astros and Dodgers fell in consecutive games to Gatesville Muegge Air to get knocked to the loser’s bracket.
The Rangers then fell to Gatesville Dixon Roofing and the Red Sox fell to the Gatesville Stanley Chevrolet squad in second round matchups. 
Three of the four Cove teams were then eliminated from contention with losses in the first round of the loser’s bracket. The Dodgers managed the lone win over the Troy Rangers while the Rangers fell to the McGregor Renegades, the Red Sox fell to the McGregor Jetts and the Astros lost to the Gatesville Jerry Wright squad. The Dodgers were ousted in the next round by the Renegades.
In the 8-and-under machine pitch competition held in McGregor, the Copperas Cove Indians suffered a first-round loss to Gatesville Cargill and were ousted from the tournament in their next outing against the McGregor Rangers.
The Copperas Cove Astros finished third in the eight-team 12-and-under tournament in Florence and the Astros and Rangers each saw early exits at the 14-and-under District 7 tournament in Harker Heights.