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GREENEVILLE—Host Greeneville scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning Tuesday night to capture a 2-1 victory over Morristown in the District Four Little League 9-10 Tournament in one of the better games in that age group anyone could hope to see.

Brantley Foshee rapped a two-out single to score Kieler Roark with the winning run to put the winners in the championship game which is scheduled for Friday night at Optimist Field.

Morristown which actually scored what would have been the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth only to have it wiped off by an umpire’s decision, will now play Smoky Mountain in an elimination game on Thursday with that winner advancing to play Greeneville.

The game was very well played with good defense and pitching from both teams although neither collected many hits.

Morristown starting pitcher Grayson Cody worked out of trouble a couple of times early in the contest. Winning hurler Gunner Crum singled to lead off the bottom of the first and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches.

However, Cody retired three straight batters to escape. Roark walked to lead off the second and moved to second on a wild pitch but Cody got three consecutive outs again and it stayed scoreless.

Morristown finally broke through in the top of the third. Jaxson Quilliams opened the frame with a hit but was forced at second by Maddox Rich.

Greeneville starter Holden Hopson then walked Wyatt Watkins and hit Lucas Justice to load the bases with one out. Ketner Dearing then had a pop to left that fell for what would have been a single if the runner hadn’t been forced out at third base.

But Rich scored on the play to give Morristown a 1-0 lead before Hopson struck out the next batter to end the threat.

Greeneville tied it in the bottom of the third when Nikko Marquez walked and went to second on a wild pitch and later scored on an out.

Crum relieved to start the fourth for Greeneville and Carter Short came in to pitch for Morristown in the fourth.

After Crum struck out the side in the fourth, Short reached on a two-base error to start the Morristown fifth. He moved to third as Cody grounded out to third.

Short scored on a ball that bounced away from the catcher but the umpire ruled him out on the interference call.

Roark then led off the bottom of the inning with a hit and moved to third on two wild pitches as Short retired the next two batters. That’s when Foshee came through with what proved to be the game-winning hit.

Watkins drew a two-out base on balls in the sixth but Crum got the final out on a pop up back to the mound.

Morristown coach Cole Draughn said, “That was a tough loss especially when it looked like we had taken the lead. Our batter backed straight out of the box when the ball bounced away and I asked the umpire what else he was supposed to do but never really got an answer.

“But the bottom line is we didn’t hit the ball like we needed to to win the game,” he added. “I thought we played good defense and pitched well but we just didn’t hit the ball well enough.”

Morristown got just two official hits on the singles by Short and Quilliams but actually had another by Dearing that became a fielder’s choice although it was a clean hit.

Greeneville got hits from Crum, Cameron Burks, Roark and Foshee.

Crum got the win. He pitched three innings without allowing a hit. He walked one and struck out five. Short took the loss as he allowed three hits in two innings with two strike outs.

Coach Draughn commented, “We just have to come back up here on Thursday and take care of business and see what happens if we get to them again.

“But we’ve got to swing the bats if we expect to win,” he added. “But I have confidence that my kids will bounce back.”