CARY, N.C. – After allowing two runs in the first, Alpha Prime responded with three of their own in the bottom half and never looked back to defeat Texas Twelve 7-4 for the 15U National Team Championships gold medal at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Texas Twelve came out hot in the top of the first as Blaine Bullard walked and Lucas Tinajero singled to put two runners on for Justin Michaelis. Michaelis sent a single up the middle for two runs-batted-in and gave Texas Twelve the 2-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last long as Alpha Prime answered with three runs in the bottom half. Tyler Wick doubled to put a runner in scoring position for Maverek Russell who put his team on the board with an RBI single. Russell tied the game on a wild pitch and Alonzo Alvarez sent an RBI triple deep into right center field for the 3-2 lead.

Alpha Prime wasn’t settled with the one-run lead, adding two more in the second. With bases loaded, Aiden Aguayo took a pitch to left field for a sacrifice fly and Brock Sell scored on a wild pitch for a 5-2 lead.

After allowing two runs in the first, Drew Van Court settled down and comfortably went to work. Van Court followed with four scoreless innings before being pulled in the top of the sixth for Brennan Johnson.

Texas Twelve showed some life in the top of the sixth loading the bases with no outs. Johnson picked up two outs before being relieved by Sell, but Texas Twelve scratched only one across on a wild pitch which allowed Carter Guillory to score.

Alpha Prime once again responded with a run of their own as Aguayo picked up his second RBI on a single to center field. Cooper Fulbright attempted a last-minute Texas Twelve rally leading off the seventh with a double to left field and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 7-4.

Sell delivered the final out for Alpha Prime inducing a ground ball to third base for the 15U National Team Championships gold medal victory.

Van Court scattered just four hits and two walks with three runs allowed and eight strikeouts for the win. Sell picked up the save in 1.1 innings of work. Mason Murphy was handed the loss allowing five runs in one inning pitched.

Angel Laya, Russell, and Sell each contributed multi-hit efforts in the win. While Aguayo and Alvarez both notched two RBIs.

How it happened

• Justin Michaelis quickly put two runs on the board for Texas Twelve with a two RBI single up the middle in the top of the first.
• Maverek Russell tacked on the first run for Alpha Prime sending an RBI single into right field in the bottom half of the first.
• Angel Laya singled and Maverek Russell scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2, Alonzo Alvarez crushed an RBI triple in the right center gap to take the 3-2 lead.
• With the bases loaded, Aiden Aguayo pushed the score to 4-2 by sending a fly ball to left field for the sacrifice fly and the runners moved up to second and third, as well.
• Brock Sell then came into score on the wild pitch increasing the lead to 5-2 for Alpha Prime.
• Alonzo Alvarez added a run for Alpha Prime to go up 6-2 on a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the fifth.
• Carter Guillory scored on a wild pitch to bring it to 6-3 for Texas Twelve after reaching on a single to lead off the top of the sixth.
• Aiden Aguayo increased the score to 7-3 via an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.
• Cooper Fulbright led the top of the seventh off with a double for Texas Twelve and scored on a wild pitch making it 7-4.

Notable Information

• Alpha Prime collected 11 hits in the win and finished the tournament as a team slashing .368/.451/.544.
• Angel Laya hit .600 (12-for-20) in the tournament with five extra-base hits.
• Alec Blair led Alpha Prime with eight RBIs and a 1.053 slugging percentage.
• Drew Van Court finished with a 2.10 earned run average and 15 strikeouts across 10 innings.
• Lucas Franco concluded the tournament for Texas Twelve with a team-best 1.234 OPS.