Photo by Vickie Mills Shockers' player, Jonathan Gordon, hitting one of his three record setting home runs on Saturday's tournament that was held in Lexington, S.C.

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Shockers include, Front Row (L-R) Landon Mills, Josh Adams, Will Atkinson, A'Shani McFarland, Owen Taylor; Middle Row (L-R) Adam Bytheway, Cameron Harvey, Hunter Polston, Jonathan Gordon, Keyshawn McDonald, McIver Wallace, Garrett Beachum; Back Row (L-R) Head Coach, Richie Mill, Coach Kevin Harvey, and Coach Woody Atkinson. The boy in the very front row is Trion McDonald.

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The 9U Shockers travel baseball team journeyed to Lexington, S.C., this past weekend to participate in a tournament and earned a 2nd place finish.

As usual, the games on were filled with thrills and chills as the Shockers were forced into come-from behind victories in two of the games.

Garrett Beachum and Owen Taylor rescued the Shockers in relief pitching roles in game one. Jonathan Gordon ignited the comeback by hammering his first home run of the day over the left field fence to assist in the 16 to 12 win.

Keyshawn McDonald, Hunter Polson, and Owen Taylor hit singles to start the second game on Saturday, and Jonathan Gordon blasted his second homer of the day for a quick 4 to 0 lead. Adam Bytheway picked up 2 more RBIs and also scored in the first frame as the Shockers went up 7 to 0. Will Atkinson and Hunter Polson were spectacular on the mound as they combined for the shut out. Jonathan Gordon (“The Hammer”) connected to hit his 3rd home run of the day over the right center field fence to drive in Hunter Polson in the 5th frame.

Cameron Harvey played “lights out” defense the entire tournament without any errors and Josh Adams, Will Atkinson, Keyshawn McDonald, Adam Bytheway, and Ashani McFarland all made big plays in the outfield. Owen Taylor, Landon Mills, and Hunter Polson had great outings in the closer role on the mound. Hunter Polson held the batters at bay, Josh Adams knocked in the winning RBI in game one on Sunday, and catcher Jonathan Gordon caught a pop up near the plate to seal the 5 to 4 come from behind win. McIver Wallace has become an “iron-man” for the team behind the plate as he and Jonathan Gordon combine to play great defense at the catcher’s position.

Down 2 to 0 in the championship game, Landon Mills came in as a relief pitcher to silence the bats of the Lexington Wildcats. However, fielding errors led to a 4 to 0 deficit and an eventual 6 to 2 deficit. There had been a rain delay and the rain was moving in again as the home team Shockers entered into the 5th frame.

The Wildcats brought in their speedster and ace pitcher but the Shockers began to connect and had Garrett Beachum on first and Will Atkinson on second base with only one out to start the usual Shocker’s come-from-behind effort. The Wildcats were beginning to show signs of fear as the Shockers were showing signs of excitement.

Then, the heavy down-pouring rain returned and the officials stopped the game and also halted the come from behind attempt of the Shockers. The Shockers have now won 35 of their last 36 games and will be preparing to play in the World Series in July.