CARY, N.C. - Monday marked the final day of play at the 2024 14U National Team Championships in North Carolina, seeing both semifinal and championship game action in the early slates.
Before either team could battle for a shot at the gold, both squads needed to win their semifinal match to punch their ticket and get to the big stage.
The Bolts cruised their way to a 5-2 victory over the Midland Redskins behind Aiden Kearney’s two-RBI day in their semifinal contest, while Evolution topped Team Elite 5-4 to set the stage for a heavyweight championship bout.
After a scoreless first inning, it was Evolution that broke the seal to notch the first run of the contest in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single from Sione Papitaiso Tulua.
Down one, the Bolts responded with two runs of their own in back-to-back at-bats from both Brayden Landry and Luke Esquivel, pushing the score to 2-1 in favor of the Bolts.
The Bolts weren’t done plating runs yet as they put forth a show in the fourth inning, notching a whopping seven runs. The scoring rally was capped off with a sacrifice fly from Striker Pence which would put his squad up by eight.
Head coach Jake Robbins notes that his team came out with an aggressive mindset at the dish, allowing for his defense to play comfortably throughout the game.
“They got more aggressive and we were starting to get on top of the fastball. We wanted to try to put more pressure on their defense. And we always want to stay on top of baseball, hit the ball hard, and good things will happen for us.”
The Bolts’ defense kept Evolution at bay yet again, building a sense of confidence for the Bolts as they came to the plate at the turn of the inning. Sebastian Quiles took that confidence and turned it into a run as he delivered a sacrifice fly to left field. In the next at-bat, Kearney pushed another run across the plate, extending the lead to 11-1.
Pitcher Liam Skeen and Striker Pence closed out the contest in relief on the mound, finalizing the last three outs to secure the Bolts an 11-1 win and a gold medal in only five innings of play.
Coach Robbins was ecstatic after his squad’s huge win, acknowledging it was nice to see a breakout performance from his guys against such great competition.
“Obviously the competition here is great. USA Baseball does a great job with the event and there is always good talent for the players and the teams that come in. And it takes a little bit of luck to win these things. So like I said, we played five really close ball games. I think the most we scored in a single ball game was five all weekend, until the championship game. To be able to pitch the way we did was nice today, we always played good defense. The bats finally came around that last game.”
For Robbins and the Bolts, the experience of winning its first gold medal at the 14U level and third all-time at the National Team Championships in North Carolina, making the win even sweeter.
“It’s always awesome to win number one, but to win a gold medal here at the USA Baseball complex is huge. It's been eluding us the last four or five years so to finally win one is amazing.”
In the bronze medal game, Team Elite paved its way to a spot on the podium with an exhilarating 9-7 win over the Midland Redskins. Team Elite jumped out to an early 3-2 lead after the first inning, scoring three runs on three-straight at-bats. The Redskins fought back, scoring three runs of their own to take a 5-3 lead after the third inning. Team Elite cut the deficit to just one after a balk pushed one home. Down 5-4 headed into the seventh, Team Elite caught fire by collecting five runs via singles from Brennan New and Zach Koons to give them a four-run cushion. The Redskins registered two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but their comeback fell two runs shy, leaving Team Elite with a bronze medal.
