BROADWAY — The Laurinburg Optimist 8-and-under All Stars went 2-2 to finish fourth at the Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth N.C. District I rookie league (machine pitch) tournament last week.

Laurinburg opened strong against Northview Blue in the tournament opener, collecting five straight hits from Luke Johnson, Blake Hickman, Brett Jacobs, Dalton Gibson and Matt Sellers to start the game in a three-run first inning.

It was all Northview Blue from there, however, and Laurinburg lost 13-3.

Laurinburg 18, Hamlet 15

Jacobs was named the MVP for Laurinburg after having three putouts and three assists in the field in addition to going 4-for-5 with three RBIs.

Johnson went 5-for-5, scoring five times and knocking in two runs. Sellers was 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored, and Chris Lawrence went 3-for-5 with two runs.

Laurinburg 12, Broadway 9

Sellers was named the Laurinburg's MVP as he made nine putouts and had one assist from first base. Sellers' assist came in the bottom of the fifth with his team up one run; he cut off a throw from right fielder Bryce Byrd and threw a strike to catcher Dalton Gibson at home plate, preventing the tying run from scoring. Sellers was also 3-for-3 with three RBIs on the day.

Laurinburg's other top hitters in their third game were: Nick Callahan, 2-for-3, two runs; Hayden Smith, 2-for-3, one run; Lawrence, 2-for-3, two runs; Gibson, 2-for-3, one run; Hickman, 2-for-3, double, two runs.

Sandhills 20, Laurinburg 8

Johnson was 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored for Laurinburg, and teammate Hickman went 3-for-3 with a triple and a run.

Gibson went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored; Lawrence was 2-for-3 with two runs; and Tyler Faulk doubled and finished 1-for-2.