The Marshall County Thunder advanced to the championship round of the 15-year old Babe Ruth District 8 tournament by defeating tourney host Giles County 7-6 on Tuesday night at Sam Davis Park.

After the two teams battled to a 5-5 tie through the first five innings of play, the Thunder scored two runs in the top of the sixth to seize a 7-5 lead before staving off a Giles County rally attempt in the bottom of the seventh.

With their win over Giles County, Marshall County also qualified for the Babe Ruth State tournament, which will be held in Lawrenceburg next week.

Next stop: State

Defensive problems

Bolstered by a four-run third inning, the Thunder out-hit Giles County 8-7 overall. Relief pitcher Wilson Limbaugh tallied two hits and scored two runs to lead the Thunder offensively, while Derrick McKnight (two RBI), J.D. Crabtree (one RBI), Josh McKnight (one RBI), starting hurler Stuart Warner, and Ethan Poteete each had one hit.

Limbaugh picked up the win on the mound as well and yielded one unearned run in three innings of work on three hits and a walk to go along with five strikeouts. Warner had to settle for the no decision after allowing five runs, only one earned, over four innings on four hits and three walks.

Trey Garrett (one RBI), Haydon Miller, and William McRae notched two hits apiece to pace Giles County at the plate, while reliever Matthew Dunnavant added one hit. Dunnavant suffered the loss and gave up two runs in four innings of work on four hits and three walks. Josh Rogers started the game on the mound for Giles County and surrendered five runs, one earned, over three innings on four hits and a walk.

Thunder rolls

Both teams struggled defensively, as Marshall County finished with nine errors in the contest, while Giles County committed six miscues.

The Thunder fired the opening salvo and tallied a run in the top of the first inning with the help of three Giles County errors to take a 1-0 lead.

Giles County then took advantage of shoddy defense by Marshall County and pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a single and a stolen base from McRae, a Rob McMasters walk, five Thunder errors, and an RBI single by Garrett to claim a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the third, Marshall County pulled back ahead by crossing home plate four times in the frame on the strength of a bases-loaded walk by Warner, a Derrick McKnight RBI single, an RBI fielder's choice by Bryce Wunderlin, and a Josh McKnight RBI bloop single to seize a 5-3 advantage.

Giles County quickly responded and plated two runs in the bottom of the third thanks to a leadoff single by Miller, a McMasters walk, two errors, and a sacrifice fly by Garrett to knot the game at 5-5.

Both teams left at least one man in scoring position in each of the next two innings before the Thunder struck for two runs in the top of the sixth to grab a 7-5 lead. After drawing a one-out walk, Madison Peete advanced to third on a single by Warner. Peete then scored on an RBI groundout by Derrick McKnight before Crabtree drove in pinch runner Tata Davis with an RBI single to left field.

Giles County sliced the deficit to 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Dunnavant and still had runners on first and third, but Limbaugh struck out Garrison Holt to secure the win for Marshall County.