​Ottumwa opened the day with a routine-looking pop-up to the infield, but Christian McElroy soon turned the moment into a game-changing play. The 12-year-old leaped in center field to snag a fly ball for the first out, then fired a throw back to second to complete a double play that sealed a 5-3 victory over Davis County. The sensational sequence propelled Ottumwa to the top of the Iowa District 7 standings with one pool-play game remaining. “I just saw the ball kept going, so I started running as fast as I could,” McElroy said of the jet off Jaxtyn Jones’s bat with two runners aboard. “I saw the runner at second was halfway to third base, so I knew if I could make a play I’d have a chance to get him out.” He admitted he had never imagined pulling off such a play, calling it exciting and saying he’d never forget it.
The dramatic win left Ottumwa (5-1) in position to potentially host the Iowa State Little League Baseball Tournament, as the District 7 champion gains the option to host the 8U, 10U and 12U state tournaments next month. With McElroy’s game-clinching moment, Ottumwa now leads the 12-year-old district and could reach a district final in Albia on Wednesday, keeping the path to Williamsport for the Little League World Series open for next month’s competition in Ottumwa.
“That would be great for the community. That’d be great for the kids and it would be something they would always remember,” said Ottumwa’s 12-year-old Little League coach Brad Scott. “We don’t talk about it too much with the kids. We don’t want to put the pressure on them. I know the kids kind of know that’s in the back of everyone’s mind, so they’re probably playing with a little something extra. We’re playing good teams, but we’re playing as a team. The boys are playing with attitude and effort and playing the right way.”
Friday’s District 7 action proved intensely dramatic. Ottumwa sat in front, needing only a win at Jefferson County on Monday to clinch a spot in the district final, while Davis County, Appanoose County and Je-Wa-Ke were tied for second place as the final night of district play approached. Appanoose County claimed its third straight victory, defeating Van Buren County 8-5 at Pulaski Field and remaining in the hunt to host the state tournament for the second time in four years. Four straight hits with one out in the fifth broke a 5-5 tie, with run-scoring hits by Castyn Cook and Hunter Ripperger keeping Appanoose County in contention for hosting duties.