Knox County and Williamsburg will be moving on to the District 4 tournament after taking first and second place, respectively in the 11- and -12-year-old Area 3 tourney at Middlesboro over the weekend.

But the game of the tournament came Sunday night as the host Middlesboro held off rival Pineville/Bell County 6-5.

Middlesboro’s All-Stars jumped on top with three runs in the second inning. Matthew Schneider’s bases-loaded single scored Matthew Mike and Jacob Schneider then Dalton Reynolds grounded out to first to bring home Parker Evans for a 3-0 lead.

Pineville/Bell answered back in the third. Jordan Slusher led off with a single but was forced out at second as Jarred Slusher reached on a fielder’s choice. Dylan Cox followed with an RBI double to deep left and then scored on a base hit by Chase Woolum to make it a 3-2 game.

Excellent defensive plays by both teams kept the score 3-2 until the bottom of the fifth.

Evan Brock turned a double play at second after taking a throw from Slusher for P/B in the fourth inning and Middlesboro shortstop Micah Robbins snagged a liner and tagged Cox out at second in the top of the fifth.

Nick Shoffner led off the Middlesboro fifth by getting hit by a pitch and Reynolds re-entered to run for him. With two outs Brandon Hale walked and Mike delivered an RBI single. John Epperson singled and Hale was able to score after nearly getting caught in a run-down between third and home to make it 5-2. Jacob Schneider’s hit brought Mike home to stretch the lead to 6-2.

Those insurance runs proved to be huge as Pineville/Bell rallied in the top of the sixth.

Caleb Smith was hit by a pitch leading off and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Epperson took over on the mound for Parker Evans and Devin Miller sent a fly ball sailing over the fence in left for a two-run homer that quickly cut the lead to 6-4.

Jordan and Jarred Slusher both walked and so did Cox to load the bases. Micah Robbins came on to pitch and struck out the first two batters he faced before Evan Brock’s infield single brought Jordan Slusher home to make it a one-run game.

With the bases still loaded, Robbins came back to record a three pitch strikeout to end the game and pick up a save.

Brandon Hale was the winning pitcher for Middlesboro. He allowed two runs on eight hits over five innings with three strikeouts and three walks.

Mike led the Middlesboro offense with two singles, two runs scored and an RBI. Jacob Schneider singled, walked scored a run and drove one in; Matthew Schneider drove in two runs with a single; Epperson singled; Parker Evans walked three times and scored a run; Reynolds scored a run and had an RBI and Hale walked and scored.

For Pinevile/Bell Brock led the way with three hits, including a double and drove in a run. Miller had the two-run homer, Dylan Cox, Jarred Slusher and Caleb Smith all doubled and scored a run while Jordan Slusher, Woolum and Austin Hurdle all singled.

The loss eliminated Pineville/Bell and was their second tough loss in the tournament. Saturday they dropped a 3-2 decision to Knox County.

In that game Chase Woolum singled home Austin Hurdle to give P/B a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Early on it looked like that would be all they would need as Dylan Cox was dominate on the mound. He struck out all three batters he faced in the first inning and struck out the side again in the second around a hit batter and a walk.

Cox pitched the first four innings and all 12 outs he recorded came via strikeout. He walked two and hit a batter while giving up two runs on three hits.

Knox County’s Trevor Sanborn tied the game at one with solo home run in the third inning. Caleb Marsee singled home Tyler Bright later in the frame for a 2-1 lead.

P/B tied it up in the fourth as Evan Brock singled to score Caleb Smith and the score remained 2-2 going into the sixth inning after both teams left two runners on in the fifth.

Woolum took over for Cox in the fifth and pitched well. He gave up just one run on three hits over two innings while striking out three and walkin one.

Scott Messer led off the Knox sixth with a base hit and scored on a two-out single by James West for the go-ahead run.

Sanborn went five innings to pick up the win and Jacob Steward pitched a perfect sixth to earn a save.

Brock led P/B with two singles with Cox adding a double. Jarred Slusher, Jordan Slusher, Woolum and Smitth added hits in the game.

Middlesboro’s All-Stars opened the tournament with a 15-4 loss to Williamsburg. Micah Robbins, Jacob Schneider and Nick Shoffner had doubles while Brandyn Ball, Brandon Hale and Parker Evans singled.

The win over Pineville/Bell County and Knox County’s win over Williamsburg set up a re-match for the final spot in the district tournament Monday night.

Middlesboro played a much better game this time, but Williamsburg pulled out a 5-2 win. Chase Shelton’s three-run home run proved to be the difference in the game.

Middlesboro went out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning as Matthew Mike singled and John Epperson doubled. They both came around to score on Jacob Schneider’s double.

Michael Harris had an RBI double in the third to bring Williamsburg to within 2-1. In the fourth inning it was Shelton’s 3-run blast that put them on top to stay.

Harris would add another RBI double in the fourth to make it 5-2.

Jacob Schneider’s single in the sixth was the only other Middlesboro hit in the game.

The loss ends the season for the Middlesboro 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars. Williamsburg joins Area 3 champ Knox County in the District 4 tournament which starts on July 6 at South London.