66th Monroe County Fair Baseball Tournament off to eventful start

Two balls flew over the fence.

The defending champs won twice.

And a coach who played on a winning team 27 years ago picked up a victory.

It was an eventful opening day to the 66th annual Monroe County Fair Baseball Tournament on Saturday, July 18.

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Home run balls came off the bats of Jackson Perkins of Ida Blue and South Rockwood’s Levi Ashcraft.

Neither had ever hit an over-the-fence homer before.

Monroe American opened the defense of the crown it won last summer by beating Dundee 10-0 and Erie Mason 19-7.

And South Rockwood coach Justin Harrison, who is coaching three of his sons, debuted with a win in the tournament he helped South Rockwood win in 1999.

“We have a really good team,” Harrison said. “I hope we win a lot more games.”

Sunday will be another long day at the Fairgrounds Diamond off S. Raisinville Rd.

Bedford 3B, the only team that didn’t play on opening day, gets things started at 8 a.m. with a game against Ida Gold. The action continues with Monroe National vs. Ida Blue at 10 a.m., Erie Mason vs. Frenchtown at noon and Dundee vs. the loser of the Bedford 3B-Ida Gold game at 2 p.m.

Two more games in the losers’ bracket will follow at 4 and 6 p.m.

Monroe American 10, Dundee 0

Monroe led just 2-0 after two innings, then doubled its lead in the third and triggered the mercy rule with a six-run fourth.

A triple by Geo Depew keyed the big inning.

Monroe pitchers did not give up a hit.

Bedford Elite 12-U 15, Monroe National 11

Bedford snapped a 9-9 tie with a six-run sixth inning.

Cameron Lemle tripled and doubled to lead the winners, including a two-run double in the sixth.

Silas Stark and Oliver Rauch added two hits each.

Evan Budds, Connor Croley, LJ Lymn and Cade Stang scored two runs each for Monroe.

Ida Gold 15, Frenchtown 0

Jase Connor, Brody McLaughlin, Lincoln Cuolahan, Ezekiel Billau and Nolan Wilson all had hits as Ida erupted for eight runs in the first inning.

Connor went 3-for-3 and McLaughlin singled and doubled.

Bennett Ryder scored three times.

Bedford Elite 11-U 8, Ida Blue 6

A triple by Braydin McCluskey and a double by Eli Sandlin sparked a three-run rally in the final inning that gave Bedford the win.

The inning also featured hits by Xander Risine and Christopher Morgan.

Sandlin finished with a pair of doubles and McCluskey also had two hits.

Perkins accounted for half of the Ida runs with a three-run homer in the opening inning.

“We’ve known he has the power,” Ida Blue coach Jacob Costello said. “He finally connected on a good one.”

Monroe 19, Mason 7

Benton Cosby, Geo Depew, Henry Langton, Isaiah Woods and Jamison Gable all crossed the plate twice during a massive 15-run second inning.

A triple by Nolan Aulph and a double by Gavin Ball were the big hits in the inning.

Daxton Meisner scored twice for Mason.

South Rockwood 14, Bedford Elite 12-U 6

Ashcraft homered twice in the game and drove in four runs.

He started with an inside-the-park homer in the first, then blasted a ball over the fence in the third.

“He’s a good hitter, Harrison said. “He can hit home runs, he just hadn’t yet. He gave the ball to his mom after the game.”

Ace Harrison and Leland Harrison collected three hits each for the winners and Zeke Allen closed out the game by pitching two hitless innings.

Cameron Lemle had two hits for Bedford.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: 66th Monroe County Fair Baseball Tournament off to eventful start