By Alden Gonzalez

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – For some reason, Chet Lemon keeps finding himself in close games.

That was especially true in the National Youth Baseball Championships on Friday. In an earlier win, his team, the Juice 10s, from Orlando, Florida got a walk-off victory on a controversial call with a fly ball that allowed the winning run to tag up from second base.

Later that night, his 10-year-olds were involved in a see-saw game against the NABF Champion Southern Jaguars from Atlanta.

And, once again, they came through.

The Jaguars got on the board in the bottom of the first on a balk from Juice 10s starter Andrew Baker – who allowed one run on three hits in four innings to get the win. The Juice 10s then came back in the top of the third with an RBI single by Chase Cheek and Hillman’s homer.

In the fourth, Cheek added a two-run double to make it a 5-1 game, but the Jaguars came back in the bottom half by picking up two runs of their own on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly before Hillman got the save in the sixth. 

Juan Hillman – who hit a critical two-run, opposite field home run to give his team their first lead – retired two batters in a row with the tying run in scoring position to seal a 5-3 victory.

“I don’t know what it is,” said Lemon, a former Major Leaguer for 16 years with the White Sox and Tigers, about the close games. “I think it’s just that we win so much that teams, when they play us, want to beat us so bad that they don’t play like they normally do.

“But it’s good. It makes our kids better.”

With the win, the Juice 10s (3-0) will come back at 9 a.m. CT Saturday at Gameday’s First Tennessee Fields and face the Tamiami Playmakers in the semifinals of their age group. With the loss, the Jaguars (2-1) will have to face the No. 2 team in the nation, according to Travel Ball Select, in their semifinal matchup at 11:30 a.m. CT.

The championship game will be at 6 p.m. CT. 

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