All’s well for Tidwell!

It didn’t look good.

After losing their first round game to the East, the South champions from Alabama were down 4-0 to Brownsburg, Indiana after 4 ½ innings. But hold on. A part-time player for Alabama named Kyle Tidwell got his chance to become a hero; and he came through. With the bases loaded and one out, Tidwell came to the plate and hit a game-winning grand slam which improved the South’s record to 1-1.

"It was a fastball right down the middle," Tidwell said. "I knew I had to hit the ball or my coach would have gotten really mad."

No one is mad now in the South’s dorm. That win dramatically increased their chances to make the U.S. Champioship game on Thursday.

Kyle Woodall was on the hill for the South and overcame two bad innings. After giving up a homerun to Justin Farley in the second and two doubles to Farley and Zach Koontz in the third, Woodall calmed down and kept the Central with four runs for three innings.

."I knew if I could hold them at 4-0 we would have a chance at coming back," Woodall said. The South is used to coming back during its post-season play. In the South regional tournament, manager Tony Rasmus and his boys were down 5-0 to Tennessee before bouncing back in that critical game. "I definitely was thinking about that," Rasmus said.

The South hit the ball hard all day and finally got a break in this World Series tournament. "It would have been a real shame to get shutout in three games with the offense we have," Rasmus said.

--Mark Rogoff
   Special Correspondent