The Emporia 10-and-under All-Stars finished their season Sunday with a 20-11 loss to South Dakota in Burlington, Co.
Emporia qualified for the Burlington tournament with a state championship at Fort Scott. The team was also the district champions at Osawatomie and also won the Williamsburg tournament, finishing with a 13-2 record for the year.
In the first inning, South Dakota had five hits and scored four runs off starter Bryce Baumwart, who lasted 2 2/3 innings. Emporia answered with a six-run second inning in which it batted around. Jared Mercer, Josiah Duncan, Ethan Moyer, Tate Demler, Brady Baumgardner and Baumwart all singled during the inning.
But South Dakota retook the lead with a seven-run third inning, then put eight on the board in the fourth. Faced with potentially being run-ruled out of the game, Emporia responded with three runs in its half of the fourth, thanks to singles by Trent Burd and Baumwart, a triple by Jared Mercer and another single by Ryan Mejia. But the Blues didn’t score again, and South Dakota added another run in its half of the fifth.