The view is always nicer from the winner's bracket, and no one had to tell the Lone Tree Halos (CO) on Friday that their window of opportunity was closing.
Trailing 5-1 against the OBA Pistols (OK) in their 11u Elite World Series bracket game in Steamboat Springs, the Halos sprang to life in the bottom of the fifth inning by getting the first five batters to reach base. The rally became a six-run burst of productivity, and the Halos made it stand up for a 7-5 win to advance in the double-elim bracket. The No. 4 seeded Halos will take on the top-seeded Santa Clarita Clutch on Saturday (8:30 a.m. at Howelsen Hill), looking to keep the rhythm that eluded them for a hefty portion of Friday's contest. "We've been in situations like this before, and the kids are so resilient. They believe in themselves, and it just takes one inning for them to get their momentum going," said Halos head coach John Stranak. "And we had the guy out there who could throw strikes and keep (the Pistols) in check." That would be pitcher Hayden Stranak, who came in relief in the third inning and doused a threat with two quick outs. He only allowed two hits the rest of the way and rang up five strikeouts for good measure. "We really battled through that one. That was a team win, and we all made plays in the infield and the outfield," Hayden Stranak said. "I just wanted to throw strikes. If they put the ball in play, I have a good feeling that my teammates will make the plays. I felt really good." The Pistols jumped ahead on a home run from Cash Williams in the top of the second; in the third inning, they got a two-run double from Cooper Auschwitz, who later scored on a wild pitch. A run-scoring groundout by Braden Pride pushed the Pistols up, 5-0. Hayden Stranak drove in Trevor Gottsegen with a double in the fourth to breathe some early life for the Halos. With the bases loaded in the fifth, Ethan Adams took a pitch off the helmet to bring in a run, and Carter Landen followed with a two-run double. With Andrew Hover's single bringing in the go-ahead run, Hayden Stranak added one more hit for an insurance run, bringing the score to 7-5. "I was just thinking get a double or a single ... we just need one more run for the lead. Even if I got an out there, I wanted that RBI," said Hover, who caught the game and made a tough basket-catch of a foul ball for the next-to-last out of the game. "As a team, we are good enough to come back anytime, and it's something we've done in the past. Hayden threw strikes; they hit the ball, but the defense was solid behind him." "In the fifth, Jack (Wesolowski) led off with a hit; Braedan (Reichert) laid down a bunt that went foul, but we had confidence he could come back and get a hit," coach Stranak said. "Getting those two guys on, we knew the momentum had shifted." In the 11u Elite Bracket, the top four seeds from pool play advanced in Friday's action. The Utah Yard Dawgs were looking for the reset button after the first day of the 13u Elite Division of the Triple Crown World Series. An opening 20-10 loss to the Saddleback Cowboys Black left a bad taste in the mouth of head coach Josh Atkinson.
It wouldn’t take long for Utah to find its groove on Thursday. The Yard Dawgs flew past the Omaha Pacesetters, 15-7, and closed out pool play with an impressive and gritty victory over West Coast Baseball, 13-12. “The kids came out a little flat yesterday and weren’t really motivated,” said Atkinson. “After they lost, they definitely found some of the motivation they needed. The next two games they were upbeat, wanted to win and were positive the whole time.” Utah didn’t show any signs of rust after the 30-minute break between its win over the Pacesetters and the start of the afternoon’s final contest at Howelsen Hill. The Yard Dawgs stacked together six consecutive hits in the opening inning as seven runs would cross home plate by the time the dust settled. “They were throwing a lot of off-speed pitches,” said Preston Jacobson, who singled and scored in the breakout first inning. “We had to sit back and wait for the pitches to come to us. It took a lot of patience.” West Coast Baseball had nearly 24 hours to think about its final pool play contest. After a rocky start on the defensive end, West Coast’s offense was in fine form. Down seven, they rallied to send all 10 batters to the dish and plated five runs to get back in the game. Nalder kicked the top of the second inning off with a double, standing in scoring position as Jacobson walked into the batters box. Where Nalder rattled the centerfield wall, Jacobsen cleared everything for a two-run home run. Now leading, 9-5, starting pitcher Stockton Mathis had a little bit of a cushion to deal with. Despite a troubled first inning, Mathis rebounded with a quick second frame that including a nifty 5-4-3 double play. “I just wanted to get it over the plate,” Mathis said. “Overall, it was just about having each other’s backs out there.” Mathis helped himself out in the third inning, leading off with a single. Nalder, three batters later, drove Mathis home as part of back-to-back RBI efforts for the Yard Dawgs. Utah secured a third run to cap off the inning, extending the lead, 12-5. Again, West Coast would counter in the bottom half of the inning. Mirroring their efforts from the opening frame, West Coast capitalized on two Utah errors, plating five runs to creep within two, 12-10. As the two-hour time limit approached, the Yard Dawgs added a much-needed insurance run in the fourth thanks to Mathis’ third single of the afternoon that scored Taylor Engh. With the game shifting to the bottom end of the fourth, Utah needed just three outs to end pool play on a high note. Atkinson tabbed Kaden Miller to finish off the job. Even though West Coast earned two runs on a pair of hits and a balk, Miller confidently shrugged off the pressure and struck out the final batter, ending the game, 13-12. “I have coached these kids for a lot of baseball games this year,” Atkinson explained. “I know how they are. I know how they are going to compete. I was confident that they were going to make the right plays. It was scary there at the end but they pulled through, making the plays they needed to win the game.” When it comes to picking favorites to make a run at the 11u Elite Triple Crown World Series, you might want to stick to teams with the sticks.
The Chino Hills Thunder (CA) rang up 34 runs in three pool play games (tied for second-most), closing Thursday's action with a 10-3 victory over Twelve Gold (TX) that saw them score eight runs in the final three innings. The Thunder ultimately claimed the No. 3 seed in the upcoming double-elim tournament, which begins Friday for them with a first-round bye. Isaac Fanoga had two hits and three RBI against Twelve Gold; Roman Lopez threw three innings of drama-free relief and added two RBI, while leadoff hitter Chase Davidson reached base three times, scoring once and driving in a run. "The boys competed better; we had better at-bats from perspective, with the boys taking more pitches. forcing the kids to take a strike," said Thunder coach Rene Lopez. "Our ultimate goal is to win it; we don't look ahead, and we always go game-to-game and will not overlook our opponent. But at the end of the day, we came out here with the goal to actually win it. "Isaac has just been on fire for us the past two, three games. He's been taking quality at-bats, and single-handedly won Game 1 for us, with a big double and triple." Three errors in the bottom of the first by the Thunder opened the door for Twelve Gold to score twice, but the Gold managed just two hits the rest of the way. Fanoga's crucial hit came in the three-run fourth for the Thunder, and they pushed four more across in the sixth on six consecutive two-out hits. Jerry Mendoza (who reached base three times and scored three runs) got on board with a double, followed by singles from Justin Lopez, Roman Lopez, Fanoga, Brady Stull and Frank Brazil. "I just needed to put the ball on the right side to score those runs. This was more fun, in our first game we were hitting for about 40 minutes before the other team got on the field," Fanoga said. "Roman pitched three really good innings, hardly any hits, and for us, we just needed to not make any more errors." "Our coaches told us to pick it up; we all started hitting and making better plays," Roman Lopez added. "I was just trying to throw strikes, not walk people, and make them put the ball in play so my defense could help me out." Blaine Bullard reached base twice and scored a run for Twelve Gold; Chris Sampson doubled and had an RBI, and Carson Sydnor added a single and a run. It’s been all business for the Kansas City Dirtbags in the 13u Elite Division of the 2018 Triple Crown World Series in Steamboat Springs, CO. The Dirtbags started its journey with a 14-5 win over the East County Rattlers, followed up with a 12-9 victory over Cascade Crush and finished off a perfect 3-0 pool play journey with a 16-8 win over Bergen Thunder.
“Our whole team has been one solid group of individuals,” said Kael Davis. “When one of us does a positive thing, we all get up and cheer. That kind of positivity has really psyched our team up to do good things.” Davis was lightning in a bottle out of the gate for the Dirtbags. On the very first pitch of the game, he hammered the ball over the fence to put his team ahead in the blink of an eye. “I was looking for a fastball,” Davis said. “It came and I hit it hard.” The solo shot was only the beginning of a six-run opening stanza for Kansas City. Luke Presto and Deegan Seely both drove in runs before the inning was book-ended with a two-run home run from Dondreonne Kennedy. “I wasn’t trying to hit it out,” said Kennedy. “I was just trying to hit a line drive, it just happened to go a lot farther than I thought.” Bergen Thunder were desperate for a win, and after giving up six early runs the resilient squad dug deep for a multi-run effort themselves. Taking advantage of Dirtbag mistakes, the Thunder pushed across four runs on three hits and three errors. Davis and the Kansas City offense weren’t about to give Bergen any hope, though. Another single and two quick stolen bases let Jackson Downing bring Davis home with a sacrifice fly. Tate McGuire would also muster up a sacrifice in the second inning to make it 8-4. After a quiet bottom of the second inning, the Thunder began slowly chipped away at the Dirtbag lead. Bergen conjured a run in the bottom of the third inning and quick work, defensively, in the top of the fourth allowed them to get back to the plate where they’d score three more runs, tying the game at eight. “Our teamwork this week has been outstanding,” Kennedy said. “It got close there towards the end but all of us believed in each to get the job done.” Seely opend the fifth inning with a single just as the time two-hour time limit expired, meaning the fifth would be the final of the game. Twelve total Dirtbag players would come to bat, eight of which would make the trek around the bases. Chase Wilcox and Dondreonne Kenney highlighted the inning with RBI extra-base hits. Suddenly, the momentum swung back toward the Dirtbags, who now stood just three outs away from a third victory in three games. Ty Wisdom climbed to the bump in the final frame. For the first time all game, Wisdom set down the Thunder in order, sealing the win, 16-8. “Teamwork makes the dream work,” said Davis. “If we continue the way we’ve been playing and picking each other up, we’ll be playing for that big trophy on Sunday.” When the Brighton Braves (UT) took the field Thursday at the 11u Elite Triple Crown World Series, they'd played exactly one game in the past month, and that was a loss Wednesday to kick off the event.
Good thing Riley Brown and his teammates have good muscle memory. The 3-hole hitter for the Braves homered and drove in all five runs for his team against the Dallas Patriots-Sheets in a 5-2 victory; coupled with a 9-8 victory versus the Dallas Tigers-Bazzell later in the day, the Braves secured the sixth seed in the upcoming double-elimination championship bracket, which fires up Friday morning. Brown rapped a two-run, two-out single in the third inning to tie the Patriots, then smoked a long, high one over the left-center fence for the final runs of the contest. "We had about a month off, and we've been scrimmaging at home trying to get ready. It was good to shake off the rust yesterday, and we started a little slow today," said Braves coach Donnie Saba. "That two-out, two-RBI hit from Riley Brown was huge. I am proud of these boys, and it was good to see the bats wake up a little bit." Tommy Yates reached on an error for the Braves in the third inning, and Jaxon Soto singled, with both coming home on Brown's hit. Miles Layton walked to start the fifth; Soto singled again, and Brown was there to finish the task. "I saw that pitcher really good, the balls that were coming down the middle. I had to do something with that," Brown said. "It feels good, especially being your second game in a month. Our pitchers did a good job and threw strikes." The Braves used four pitchers; Saba is hoping to spread the responsibility around while also having options during the double-elim bracket. "We're trying to limit innings, win the game, play some strategy .... it's always a tricky thing," he said. "We are deep in regards to pitching, which is a good thing. The teams we are seeing are amazing, very well-coached with a lot of talent, so we're trying to find a way to win and have some left for later." Soto reached base three times and was about as flawless from the leadoff spot as one can expect. "I love it at leadoff; you're the first one to see the pitcher, the first one the team has ... getting on three times sure felt good," Soto said. "Whenever Riley came up and you were on base, you felt like you had a good chance to score." Collin Wootten scored on a single by Luke Billings in the first inning for the Patriots, and Kaden Jones scored on a wild pitch in the second inning. They had runners on second and third with one out in the sixth, but Braves reliever Case Beames got a popout to first base and a strikeout to close the contest. Five teams went 3-0 in pool play in the 11u Elite division, with the Santa Clarita Clutch securing the top seed. The Utah Grays, Chino Hills Thunder and Lone Tree Halos wrap up the top four, with all earning first-round byes Friday. Opening day of the 13u Elite Division at Session 2 of the Triple Crown World Series in Steamboat Springs, CO, looked more like a home run derby for the Omaha Pacesetters and Slammers (CO) Armour. Slammers arrived at Howelsen Hill after already taking down West Coast Baseball, 4-3. The Pacesetters, on the other hand, were just dipping their toes into the tournament. Six home runs later, three for either side, left the two programs tied after seven innings, playing to an even 12-12. “It’s kind of a big tournament,” said Brayden Anderson of the Pacesetters. “It’s probably the biggest tournament I’ve played in. I was excited to see what the competition was going to be like and what our team could do out here.” It was Omaha who struck first. Noah Findeis and Drew Borner led the frame off with back-to-back walks. Two batters later, Rice Whitaker drove Findeis in with a single. Borner would follow Findeis’ lead, scoring a couple of plays later on a passed ball. Starting pitcher Conlin Grady was solid from the get-go for the Pacesetters, escaping from a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and retiring the side in order in the second. His quick work on the bump allowed Omaha a chance to extend its lead. The two teams traded one-run blows in the bottom of the second and top of the third stanzas. Drew Borner and Brooks Rodarte claimed an RBI for Omaha and Slammers, respectively. Already leading 3-1, Omaha was looking to pull away in the bottom of the third. “We just wanted to come out and compete,” said Easton Mains. “We were up early and had a pretty good lead but we were always looking for more.” Mains kicked off the frame with a walk and was the first of three runs to touch home plate as the Pacesetters stretched its lead, 6-1. He would help out his squad in an even bigger way late in the contest. Armour, as they would prove multiple times throughout Wednesday afternoon, would not go down without a fight. With Isaac Wachsmann already aboard with a single, Braden Hawthorne rocketed the first home run of the game over the fence, bringing Slammers within three, 6-3. “I saw inside fastball,” explained Hawthorne. “I had been waiting for that pitch all day, I got it and I just took my opportunity.” Following Hawthorne’s lead, Wachsmann equaled his long-ball effort in the very next frame. Though Wachsmann’s home run was only a solo shot, Slammers had already come up with two runs on a two-RBI single from Soren Angelini, meaning Armour had climbed all the back to tie the game at six. “I knew we had the comeback in us,” said Wachsmann. “We’re all brothers and we all believe in each other.” Trailing for the first time all afternoon, a previously 0-3 Camden Kozeal stepped to the dish with a determined mindset. “I was really struggling early,” Kozeal said. “I told myself I better do something with this next pitch or I’ll be sitting on the bench in the next game. I saw a fastball and finally made a good swing.” Kozeal’s first contact not only put the ball in play but sent the ball on a direct trajectory toward the summit of Howelsen Hill, propelling his team on top once again, 8-6. Tensions mounted as the game drew towards its waning moments. Slammers added run in the sixth to pull within one and then exploded in the top of the seventh for four runs, including the team’s third home run at the hands of Jackson Wilkerson. “We were really pumped after coming back earlier in the game,” said Wilkerson. “I was really pumped to go up there and hit. I saw fastball inside, my favorite pitch.” Though it seemed improbable, Omaha had one last chance at a miracle. Back-to-back walks from Kozeal and Whitaker set the stage for Easton Mains. Mains cranked a fastball low and away well over the 314-foot mark in centerfield, drawing a swath of cheers from the Pacesetter faithful on hand as their team was down by just one run, 12-11. Two batters later, Brayden Anderson conjured an even louder roar as his solo shot tied the game at 12. Though the game came to an end in the next at-bat, leaving the ballpark as equals seemed only fair after the barrage of offense displayed from each team. “It’s just baseball for us,” said Anderson. “We go out there and compete and we’ll look to do the same tomorrow.” Omaha will take on the Utah Yard Dawgs Thursday morning for the second of three pool play games in the 13u Elite Division. Meanwhile, Slammers face the Saddleback Cowboys, hoping to finish off an undefeated journey into the championship bracket. After a stinging defeat, the most resourceful teams don’t sit around talking about how much it hurts.
At the start of their run at the Triple Crown 13u Elite World Series in Steamboat Springs on Wednesday, the Building Champions KC Rawlings Prospects had to move past the disappointment of a Game 1 loss, falling to Cascade Crush Orange (WA), 5-2. With a Game 2 assignment vs. East County Rattlers (CA) starting up right away, the Prospects didn’t have much time to stew. So they brewed instead – concocting a four-run burst in the first inning and a huge nine-run effort in the second, more than enough to take control and eventually post a 15-2 run-rule victory over the Rattlers at the Howelsen Hill Complex. Seven different players drove in runs for the Prospects, who now get to tackle Thursday’s 8 a.m. game with a more optimistic mindset. “What the kids are slowly getting the grasp of, is a bad play happens, a bad at-bat happens, a bad pitching start happens. Once it’s over, baseball continues on; execution is all you can control in this game,” said Prospects coach Phil Kreisman. “As long as you take care of throwing strikes, defending the baseball, putting the ball in play, the wins and losses will take care of themselves.” Jackson Bell had three RBI on three hits for the Prospects; Nick English reached base four times and scored four times, while Easton Wasinger, Parrish Beagle, Connor White and Michael Novak each had two RBI. “We were down on ourselves about that first game. Then we came out after Connor gave a speech about the team, and that lifted us up,” Bell said. “I tried to clear my head, because I didn’t have a good first game.” The Prospects slapped eight doubles overall had 13 batters come to the plate in the second inning. Things quieted down late, but two insurance runs to help secure the run rule victory were scored by English. “We were down on ourselves and rusty; we saw the ball better in Game 2. First game, I knew it was going to be iffy for me, but second game I just got back out there,” English said. “When we are doing bad, we can get a little sluggish. When it’s going well, we are way up and happy, jumping around and helping each other.” On the mound, the Prospects allowed just four hits. Starter White went two innings, and Jack Kreisman pitched the other three, getting a ground ball double play to end the third and then stranding three runners in the fourth. “Connor and Jack, those guys aren’t to blow it by you, but they can locate really well,” coach Kreisman said. “They are two-pitch guys, not the ones who just get up there and try to throw as hard as they can.” “They had good fastballs and located them – they did what they needed to do,” said English, who was the Prospects catcher Wednesday. Cameron Tarling had two hits for the Rattlers, and Luke West doubled and drove in a run. 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. 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! For more than 20 years, Triple Crown Sports has provided a superior Word Series solution for youth baseball teams looking for that special championship destination.
For 10u teams in 2018, you’ll find sturdy competition and great fun at the foot of the mighty Rocky Mountains in Park City, Utah. Clear your calendar for July 16-21, as we have a thrill-packed five-game guarantee waiting for your team! The event features a festival with pin trading and a team parade, as well as a show featuring legendary YouTube comedian Domingo Ayala. When you are off the diamond, the diversions are easy to find – hiking, fishing, Olympic Park, Alpine slide, white-water rafting – Triple Crown is ready and willing to help you sort through the options. Escape the heat and humidity; find your happy spot in the mountains at the 2018 TCS 10u World Series! |