CARY, NC – The first day of the 11U and 13U National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup was full of action, featuring strong offensive innings and solid defense for the 11U age group at Thomas Brooks Park, as well as several dramatic games for the 13U age group at the National Training Complex.

11U

BIG INNINGS LEAD MIDWEST STRIPES AND SOUTHWEST STARS TO FIRST ROUND WIN

Strong innings in the first, fourth and sixth innings helped the Midwest Stars to a 13-6 victory over the Southeast Stripes in the first round of 11U pool play. Ten of their runs came in those three innings, with the highlight being the four-run fourth inning when JJ Brooks scored two runs on a triple to center field and Vance Rowland added two more on an outfield single and an error.

The Southwest Stars also pitched strong innings to take the first round victory, scoring five runs in the second inning and six in the fourth to earn a 13-6 victory over the Northeast Stripes.

LATER FUNCTIONS Gives the Southeast Stars a shutout win

The first four and a half innings of the Southeast Stars-Northwest Stripes match were close, with the Southeast Stars leading 1-0 at the start of their half of the inning. However, a six-run spark highlighted by a two-run single from Wells Grubbs and a two-run triple from Santiago Gordillo in the bottom of the fifth inning allowed the Southeast Stripes to extend their lead to seven. The team eventually pulled out a resounding 8-0 victory.

VARGAS’ HOMERUN BRINGS SOUTH STARS TO WINNING ROW

Jonah Vargas hit a three-run home run as part of a five-run first inning for the South Stars, helping his team to an 8-1 victory over the Midwest Stars on the first day of group play. Although the Midwest Stars scored in the second inning, the South Stars gave their opponents no chance to narrow the deficit even further, scoring a total of three runs in the third and fourth innings.

SOUTHWEST STRIPES PROTECT NORTHWEST STRIPES WITH GAME-DECIDING DOUBLE PLAY

The Southwest Stripes held the Northwest Stripes at bay with a game-ending double play to secure a 4-3 win in 11U pool play. Trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning, the Northwest Stripes took advantage of a defensive error to make the game a one-run game. The Northwest Stripes then loaded the bases after one out, but pitcher Matthew Lipsky caught a ground ball right to him, prompting a 1-2-3 double play to end the game.

13U

Early runs help the Northeast Stars to victory

The Northeast Stars scored five runs in the first two innings to win 7-3 over the Midwest Stars. Nico Sowers put two runners in scoring position with a double, and then an RBI groundout by Deakon Snavely opened the scoring, followed by a wild pitch that brought Mason Burke home. The Midwest Stars managed a walk with the bases loaded in the second inning to get within one point, but Northeast answered with a three-run bottom of the inning to pull away. The lead was cut to 5-3 in the fourth inning before Northeast’s Leo Toulas came in as a reliever and kept his team ahead with the bases loaded and ultimately secured the win.

MIDWEST STRIPES LAUNCH EPIC COMEBACK AND ACHIEVE PARTY WITH SOUTHWEST STARS

The Midwest Stripes rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to secure a 9-9 tie with the Southwest Stars. The scoring began in the first inning when James Miranda hit an RBI single to left to give Southwest a 1-0 lead. Midwest immediately answered in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by CJ Dornfeld, but Southwest answered with a five-run third to take a commanding lead. Miranda started the opener in the third inning with an RBI single, followed by an RBI double by Jackson Mcaneeley, and Jesse Maddox followed with a two-run knock to make it 5-1. Ryder Serna, Mcaneeley and Owen Lee added RBIs to make it 9-1, but Midwest used a huge sixth inning to tie the game. With the score at 9-2, Spray hit a two-run single to left and Dornfeld doubled to score two more runs to make it 9-6. Then Andrew Greenfield hit an RBI ground-rule double to bring the game to two runs, and Caden Reesh singled to score two more runs to tie the game at 9-9, which was the final score.

Home runs in the park help Northwest Stripes and South Stars to victory

Cole Lozano hit a three-run inside-the-park home run for the Northwest Stripes and was part of a big win as his team took advantage of walks to beat the Southeast Stripes 10-2. Later in the afternoon, a three-run inside-the-parker by Christian Choe helped the South Stars pull away from the Northeast Stripes by seven runs in the sixth inning for a 12-4 victory.

The South Stripes and Northwest Stars were close throughout the game, ending in a 3-2 victory for the South Stripes. Fisher Bresnahan hit an RBI triple in the Stripes’ win and Justin Eliskovich added an RBI double for Northwest. Later in the evening, the Southwest Stripes overcame an early deficit to beat the Southeast Stars 6-3. They took the lead on a wild pitch in the fifth inning before Julius Berrios and Noah Morales both scored on errors to make it 5-2. The Southeasts tied the game with no outs in the sixth inning, but James Joseph came out unscathed to take the win.