The two-time defending champion Bossier Phillies advanced to championship round of the American Legion Baseball Mid-South Regional with two victories in elimination games Saturday in Gastonia, N.C.
Bossier defeated Bryant, Ark., 6-0 and Daphne, Ala., 10-1. The Phillies face Tupelo, Miss., the tournament’s lone unbeaten team, Sunday at 1 p.m. If Bossier wins, the teams will face off again at 4 for the championship. The champion advances to the American Legion Baseball World Series.
Bossier avenged a 5-1 loss to Bryant in the first round Thursday.
Benton standout Slade Stephens pitched a three-hitter with four strikeouts and two walks.
Former Northwood standout Landon Martin went 2-for-3 with a double. Northwood rising senior Nate Cervantes went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Former Benton stars Cole Snell, Brody Turnipseed, Griffin Sibley and Kade Bryant all had singles. Former Glenbrook star Jackson Waller and former Evangel Christian standout Bradon Stephens also had one hit each.
The game was scoreless through three innings. Cervantes broke the tie with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth.
Martin pitched a four-hitter with five strikeouts and no walks against Daphne.
Bradon Stephens went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI.
Sibley went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Cervantes had a double and three RBI.
Turnipseed had an RBI-triple. Former North DeSoto standout Bryant Lacour also had a hit and two RBI.
The Phillies took a 4-1 lead with four runs in the bottom of the second. They put five more on the board in the sixth.