Sunday evening update: Vine-Ingle battles in World Series loss; Henley has a strong finish at FedEx St. Jude

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Vine-Ingle runs into champion buzzsaw

Asia-Pacific had three straight Junior League Baseball World Series titles on its resume, and had outscored four opponents 45-1.

          Vine-Ingle Little League found out way.

          The team from Chinese Taipei took advantage of early pitching struggles in a big first inning and then pulled away late to beat Southeast 8-1 Sunday in the overall championship of the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich.

          It ended a great run for the team from Macon, trying to give the U.S. its first championship since Rockledge, Fla., in 2012.

          Vine-Ingle outscored three opponents 26-12 to reach the final, but there was no comeback in the cards.

          Chinese Taipei got its first three batters on base, on a single, error, and walk, getting its runs in the first then on two groundouts and a single.

          Macon pitching settled down and held A-P scoreless for three innings while getting on the board in the third on a double by Stephen Grogan, bunt single by Jaiden Center, and a double from Carter Justice after a runner was caught stealing.

          But Vine-Ingle stranded two runners, a trend for the day.

          Walks and wild pitches plagued Macon, which had a hits advantage until Chinese Taipei clinched it with four runs in the top of the seventh, on a homer, single, two walks, groundout, and two-run double.

          Carter Justice topped Macon from the No. 8 spot with two hits and an RBI.

          Charlie Kemp went 5 for 14 in the series while Jayden Cannon drove in a team-high seven runs.

Henley finishes first playoff tournament strong

          Russell Henley’s lone bogey-free round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship was a timely one.

          The last one.

          Henley opened and closed the tournament with 66s, good for a tie for 17th as the PGA Tour/FedEx playoff now moves to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mill, Md., just northwest of Baltimore.

          Then comes the finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

          What wasn’t working consistently on Friday and Saturday returned on Sunday for Henley, who recorded four birdies en route to his fifth-lowest score of the year, his fourth 66.

          Henley avoided trouble most of the day and fairly easily escaped it when it found him. His longest par putt a little over 16 feet, with several under a foot.

          He had a top-20 tournament in scrambling, shots gained around the green and shots gained total, and was respectable in driving accuracy and putts per greens in regulation.

          It’s his ninth top-20 finish this season in 16 events. He was projected top drop from fourth to sixth in the FedEx Cup rankings.