FAYETTEVILLE -- Jacob Bailey has already reached legendary status.
Among fans of the Alabama Raw Dogs baseball club, he is called "the Alabama Legend" for his prowess at the plate and in the field.
Bailey lived up to the hype Monday as the hard-hitting third baseman smashed two home runs, knocked five RBIs and scored three runs to lead the Mobile-based Raw Dogs to a 19-3 victory over Mid-County, Texas in the finals of the Senior Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Tournament.
Bailey was named the tournament's most valuable player.
"He just came out of nowhere," Raw Dogs manager Tony Hendrix said. "He's hit the ball hard all year long. He's gotten better and better all year long. He really swung the bat well throughout this tournament."
Bailey's play paced a prolific day at the plate for the Raw Dogs. They entered the finals having scored 38 runs in their three previous tournament games. In Monday's finale, they had 17 hits including four home runs. The Raw Dogs sent no fewer than seven batters to the plate during any of the game's seven innings, and never scored less than three runs in any frame.
Trevor Wells blasted a solo shot in the second, and Reece Ewing launched a three-run bomb in the third for the Raw Dogs. Ethan Wilson, Dalton Rone, Chris Sargent, and Sam Ladner all had multiple hits.
"We needed to score some runs, and we did," Hendrix said. "We had a couple of days where we didn't hit the ball like we were supposed to, but we did today. We hit the ball hard. Nobody was an easy out today."
Mid-County scored runs in each of the first three innings. The East Texas-based squad scored on a bases-loaded walk in the first, a Brandon Petix solo home run in the second and a Cooper Coe RBI double in the third.
Mid-County had six hits in the contest.
"We hit the ball, but it was right at them," Mid-County manager Ben Rogers said. "All we could do is just keep swinging the bat, they just went right to them. Sometimes you have those days."
Caleb Coffey earned the victory for the Raw Dogs, after entering for starter Daniel Wadill with two outs in the first inning.
With the victory, the Raw Dogs advance to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown, N.Y. Hendrix said his team is looking to repeat its success of recent years that's seen the Raw Dogs win nine World Series Championships in 18 years.
"Southern baseball is better than northern baseball, so I'm hoping the trend stays the same," he said.
Sports on 07/17/2018