CASTAIC, Calif. - Kailand Halstead (Aberdeen, Wash.) scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning and the USA Baseball 12U National Team Trials Red Team defeated the Blue Team 8-7 to claim the best-of-three series (two games to one) Saturday at VTV Baseball Complex.
The Red Team produced 11 hits from 11 different players in the contest. None was bigger than Travis Friend's (Whittier, Calif.) three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning. Friend's blast over the left field fence followed an RBI-single from Brock Thompson (Bakersfield, Calif.) and capped a four-run inning and a string of six straight runs by the Red Team to take a 6-3 lead.
Blue took the initial lead with a three-run first inning, using a trio of hits and sacrifice fly by Elijah Selga (Chula Vista, Calif.) to jump out 3-0. Red responded in the bottom half of the first inning with three hits as well, with a leadoff double from Christian Hamilton (Lauderhill, Fla.) sparking a pair of runs in the inning.
Trailing 6-3, Blue rallied back and eventually took a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning. Following a Dylan Green (Roseville, Calif.) RBI-single in the fourth inning, the Blue added three more runs in the fifth inning for their second lead of the game. Blue produced four hits in the inning, including an RBI-single from Kayson Cunningham (San Antonio, Texas), and took advantage of an error to manufacture the trio of runs.
Paul Dominguez (Anaheim, Calif.) tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-out single for the Red Team. With one out in the seventh inning, Halstead reached first base on an error, stole second base and moved to third base on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch allowed him to advance home as the winning run.
The Red Team, 6-for-10 in two-out at-bats, limited their strikeouts to two during their at-bats in the game. Pitcher Kibru Pam (Pasadena, Calif.) recorded the win on the mound, striking out three batters in one inning of work. In the loss, the Blue Team received multi-hit performances from Kameron Davis (Albany, Ga.) (2-for-3), Ethan Puig (Miami, Fla.) (2-for-4) and Green (2-for-2), who led the Blue with a pair of runs-batted-in. Blue was 5-of-8 getting their leadoff batter aboard, but stranded nine runners in the contest.
USA Baseball will announce the 12U National Team, which will compete in the COPABE Pan Am "A" Championships, Saturday evening.
For more information on the 12U National Team Trials, please visit USABaseball.com or follow along on Twitter, at @USABaseball12U.