American All-Stars edge Roosevelt County

The Clovis American All-Stars jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third inning and held on Friday night for a 9-7 victory over Roosevelt County at Dickenson Field in Clovis.

CMI photo: Rick WhiteRoosevelt County's Baylor Diaz slides safely into third base as Clovis American third baseman Reiney Houfek tries to corral a throw from the outfield. American held on to beat Roosevelt 9-7 on Friday in the 9-10-year-olds Little League District 3 all-star tournament game at Dickenson Field.

Clovis Zia routed Quay County 24-1 in the other first-round game Friday of the four-team, double-elimination District 3 tournament for 9-10-year-olds.

Zia will host American at 7 p.m. Sunday at Beachum Field in the winners bracket final. Roosevelt County and Quay County meet at the same time at Rotary Park in Portales in an elimination game.

American rode its early cushion to the victory, surviving 10 walks and a hit batsman and getting help from a couple of calls that stymied Roosevelt's three-run fifth.

A batter was ruled out when his bunt came up and hit him in fair territory, nullifying what would have been a two-base throwing error on the play. Then American got out of it when a Roosevelt runner was called out for sliding out of the baseline on a fielder's choice play at second, resulting in a double play.

"That was a big deal for us," American manager Andy Cox said. "Roosevelt County is a good ballclub, and we feel lucky to have won this game. It could've gone either way."

American outhit Roosevelt 8-6, with Jeston Webskowski, Rob Winton and Reiney Houfek each collecting two hits. Houfek had a run-scoring double in the second, an RBI single in the third and also drew a walk and scored three times.

Luciano Rodriguez and Sam Long each had two singles and an RBI for Roosevelt County.

"We came out jittery," RC manager B.J. Mitchell said. "Most of these kids had never played all-stars before, and they were pretty tight.

"We've got a good team; the good thing is we get another shot. If we'd played early the way we played starting in the third inning, we'd have been all right."