North Laurel completed a perfect run through District 4 competition (ages 9-10) by defeating Jackson County 6-2 in the district tournament finals on Thursday at Huff Park.

Cooper Elza pitched a complete game, giving up five hits while striking out eight to earn the win and send North Laurel to the state tournament next week at Marion County.

Elza led the game off with an inside-the-park home run that led to a three-run first inning while Jude McWhorter’s inside-the-park home run highlighted a three-run second inning. The six runs would be all North Laurel needed as Cooper Elza dominated on the mound as his team wrapped up a win.

“We play a whole lot better when we were ahead,” North Laurel’s Kyle Elza said. “We didn’t play really well when we fell behind the other day. So when we got the lead in the first inning, it gave Cooper some runs to play with, and he did a great job on the mound.”

“The big lead gave Cooper more confidence not he mound, and the other big thing is that we hit the ball well tonight. I thought we did a good job hitting at the plate, and it was the whole team. This was another big win for us.”

Jackson County battled back with two runs in the sixth inning as Jackson Lakes drove in a run with a single and Ashdyn Collins followed with a sacrifice fly.

Jackson advanced to the finals and completed a four-game win streak to make it out of the losers bracket with a 2-0 win Wednesday over Hazard.

Davon Seals pitched another strong game for Jackson as he tossed a four-hitter with 12 strikeouts, throwing only 59 pitches in six innings.

Lakes led the Jackson offense with a triple and single.

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After opening the District 4 Tournament (age 11) with a win over Williamsburg, the Harlan All-Stars gave up 12 runs in the first inning in a 17-2 loss to Corbin on Wednesday at Barbourville.

Harlan was limited to three hits in the loss. No stats were available.

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The Tri-City All-Stars were tied at 4 against Hazard/Perry County in the District 4 Tournament (ages 11-12) at Corbin before Hazard exploded for six runs in a 10-4 win.

Tyler Lunsford led Tri-City with three singles. Jesse Franks added two singles. Aiden Craig had a double.

Shawn Carroll gave up five hits, striking out six and walking one, before reaching the pitch limit with one out in the sixth inning. Franks and Lunsford each recorded one out to finish the game.

Talon Goins led Hazard at the plate with an inside-the-park homer and double. Sammy Shoptaw had a double and single. Max Pelfrey added a double. Brady Tincher, Luke Bailey and Parker Williams each contributed a single.