Every July, Triple Crown Baseball takes over the two gorgeous mountain towns of Steamboat Springs, CO and Park City, UT for the World Series. A few age groups are still rolling in Steamboat; however, the 9u and 12u divisions have already left it all out on the Park City dirt.

The fun began on July 16 with the famous “Parade of Teams” through Park City’s Historic Downtown where teams are introduced and celebrate the week ahead. After the parade and pin trading, some squads received trophies before the tournament even started by participating in the Team Skills Competition.

In the 9’s division, Texas Edge Papasan was a triple threat in the competition, showcasing speed, accuracy and power to become the 2018 Skills champions. Edge athletes Julian Alcala and Easton Bleeker each won individual awards; Alcala placing first in throwing accuracy and Bleeker placing first in the home run derby. Their teammate Braylon Reid was also on the leaderboard with the second fastest base running time. The team took second in the Around the Horn Competition behind the LVBA Lightning Navy.

There were individuals from numerous teams that stood out in the 12u Skills Competition, but the Houston Generals were the most successful collectively after winning the fastest Around the Horn time and Luke Rivers’ second-place base running achievement. Tucker Jones from Tiger Baseball Club Elite had the best throwing accuracy, Colby Majewski from Premier Baseball Club was the home run derby master and Andrew Fox from the INW Diamond Dawgs was the speediest of them all.

The 5-game guarantee started bright and early on Tuesday morning and the 9u Bolt’s road to becoming champions was unusual and impressive. The team got off to a rough start falling to the Victory Braves, 15-0, in their very first game at the World Series and finishing pool play 2-2. Things started clicking for Bolt when the stakes were higher; the Lehi, Utah based team went undefeated the rest of the tournament to claim the title.

Two of their four bracket play wins were a result of taking down the previously undefeated Braves; the first time was on Thursday which sent the Braves on a long trip through the loser’s bracket. The Braves ultimately fought their way back to the title game, however, Bolt had just a little more gas in the tank and won the matchup by one run, 6-5.  

The large amount of teams in the older division allows the 12u event to be broken into three different sectors after pool play; the Elite 8 (seeds 1-8), Platinum bracket (seeds 9-24) and the Gold bracket (seeds 25-45).

The 4th seeded Houston Generals carried over their Skills Competition success to the 12u Elite 8 division. The Generals topped the 7th seeded Utah Owlz, 17-8 in the championship game to cap off their perfect 7-0 tournament record. The team defeated both the 1st and 2nd seeded squads on their road to becoming Triple Crown World Series champions.

The 12th seeded SM Pounders out of Springville, Utah nabbed the Platinum championship with an overall record of 7-1. Their only loss came in the championship, a tough 7-6 battle against Utah Elite Baseball. Lucky for the Pounders, they had one more shot at Elite in the “if” game and they were successful, winning a 16-10 hitters duel.

The 28th seeded Team ROCK from Ogden, Utah had a smooth road to success posting several run rule victories and ultimately a 12-4 championship win over the 26th seeded Salt Lake Gulls. 

​Over the next few weeks, Triple Crown Baseball will take over two of the most gorgeous mountain towns in the U.S. for the 2018 World Series.

Park City, Utah will host the first group of 8u, 9u, 10u, 12u and 12 Elite athletes from July 16th-21st. In 2018, TCS marks the 7th year of the World Series in Park City. Conveniently located 30 minutes away from the Salt Lake City International Airport, this family friendly host city is known for its world class atmosphere, Olympic Park, free summer concerts, cool morning and evening temperatures, breath-taking mountain scenery, high-quality resort lodging, and an abundance of mountain shops, restaurants and outdoor activities.

The competition begins on Day 1 at Park City Sports Complex for the team skills competition, directly followed by a live show from our favorite baseball legend, Domingo Ayala. Later, all teams will parade through historic downtown Park City. Tournament play will run from Tuesday through Saturday and if you’re games are done early, don’t miss free entertainment at the Park City concert series from 6-8pm each night.

After crowning the World Series champions in Park City, TCS Baseball will head back to the Colorado Rocky Mountains for the 23rd year of the World Series in Steamboat Springs. Session 1 will feature over 75 teams in 11u, 13uD2 and 14u competition. Players, coaches and families can expect an epic Opening Day at Howelsen Hill Sports Complex on Tuesday July 24th filled with a team skills competition, parade of teams, pin trading and awards.

Nearly 50 more teams will head to “The Boat” to tie a nice bow on their summer baseball experience. Look for 8u, 13u and 11 and 13 Elite teams enjoying the last week of the TCS World Series from July 31st-August 5th. The format for Session 2 will mirror the first, aside from the opening ceremony being held at Steamboat Ski Corporation.
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Good luck to all the teams headed to any of these three events. We wish you a week filled with family, friends, fun and solid baseball! Visit https://www.tcworldseries.com/ for more information on the 2018 World Series!