Special to the Reporter

The 2005 Pelham Panthers 8-year-old National League All-Stars finished the Metro Tournament tied for fifth place in a field of 12 teams. A highlight for the Panthers in the tournament was a victory over No. 1 seed Hoover East. The Panthers defeated Hoover 10-3.

The game was scoreless after the first inning due to a great catch by outfielder Paul Christian Benton who doubled up the Hoover runner. The Panthers took an 8-0 lead after 2 innings. Ryan Murphy knocked in the first two runs in the inning with his single to left field and Zach Allison knocked in the last two runs in the inning on a double down the left field line. Hoover scored their first run in the third inning but Pelham came back with two runs of their own. Justin Anderson scored on a Ryan Murphy double to left field. Kevin Midgette scored on a Logan Barnett single to right field.

After three innings the score was 10-1. Hoover scored two runs in the top half of the 4th inning to cut the lead to 10-3. Zach Allison closed out the scoring for Hoover in the fourth inning with a running catch in the power alley.

The Panthers shut down Hoover in the fifth and sixth innings on great defensive plays.

Circle player Barrett Barnett made a nice catch in the fifth. Ryan Murphy made a backpedaling catch for the first out of the sixth inning. Justin Anderson made an over-the-shoulder catch at shortstop and Mason Tittle’s catch ended the game in the sixth, with the final score, Pelham 10, Hoover 3. Zach Allison had a double and single while Justin Anderson and Ryan Murphy each had two hits for Pelham.

The Panthers first win in the tourney came against Mountain Brook, 11-10, Monday night at West Homewood Park. Pelham came back from an 8-1 Mountain Brook lead to win the game.

In the fourth inning, down 8-1, the Panthers batted through their lineup to push across seven runs to tie the game at 8. In the top of the fifth, Mountain Brook took the lead with two runs to take a 10-8 lead. But Pelham started the bottom of the fifth with a Kaelan Harrison home run to deep left field. Zach Allison followed with a single and Mason Whitman followed with a fielders choice. Mac Cartledge hit a single and Justin Anderson followed him with a fielders choice but knocked in the tying run. Ryan Murphy added a single to knock in the go-ahead run and Kevin Midgette followed with another single to put the Panthers on top 11-10.

In the top of the sixth, with bases loaded and one out, circle player Barrett Barnett knocked down the ground ball and fired home to Logan Barnett to keep the score at 11-10 Panthers with two outs. The next batter hit the ball to shortstop Justin Anderson who threw to second baseman Kaelan Harrison for the final out of the game. Kaelan Harrison and Zach Allison each went 3-for-3 in the game. Mac Cartledge, Justin Anderson, Ryan Murphy, Kevin Midgette and Mason Tittle each added two hits in the win. Mason Whitman, Paul Christian Benton and Logan Barnett added a hit apiece. On defense, Mason Whitman made a diving catch in right-center field along with catcher Logan Barnett.

The Panthers finished the tournament losing to Vestavia and Homewood