CARY, N.C. -- The Southwest Stars capped an unbeaten week at the 15U National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup with a 12-1 victory over the Northwest Stars in the gold medal game on Sunday afternoon in Cary, North Carolina.

Southwest scored twice in the top of the first and continued to build on the lead in the victory, including a three-run fifth inning to pull away. After Jake Boucher and Jaden Panda Liu singled and Moises Razo walked to to load the bases in the fifth, Stephen Crater socked a bases-clearing, three-run double the help Southwest pull away.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Southwest got on the board quickly in the top of the first, scratching two runs across. The first run was plated when Kenneth Park scored on an RBI groundout by Nathan Chavez, and the Southwest lead grew to 2-0 when Jack Boucher scored on a wild pitch.
• Northwest threatened in the bottom of the second, putting a pair of runners on before Stephen Crater coaxed a 4-6-3 double play to retire the side.
• Kenneth Park tripled and scored on a two-out double by Jack Boucher as Southwest extended its lead to 3-0 in the third.
• After Peyton Richards led off Northwest's half of the third with a single, Gavin Kramer induced another double play to maintain Southwest's three-run lead.
• A leadoff single by Thomas Brown in the bottom of the fourth was erased on another double play, keeping the score at 3-0 in favor of Southwest.
• With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fifth, Stephen Crater delivered a bases-clearing double to deep left field to extend Southwest's lead to 6-0.
• Nathan Chavez stole third base and scored on an errant throw, giving Southwest a 7-0 advantage in the top of the sixth.
• Northwest got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Tait Reynolds drove in Ethan Sullivan with an RBI single back up the middle.
• Southwest rallied for five more runs in the seventh to put the game away. Nathan Chavez and Stephen Crater each had RBI singles in the inning, while two runs scored on an error and another was plated on a wild pitch to give Southwest a 12-1 lead it would go on to win by.

OF NOTE

• The gold medal is the Southwest Region's second all-time title at the 15U level, with the last coming in 2017.
• The Southwest, winners of the last two NTIS Champions Cups, kicked off the 2022 event with another gold to get off to a strong start.
• Northwest clinches its third-consecutive medal at the NTIS 15U NTIS, as the region earned bronze in 2021 and both gold and bronze in 2019.
• Southwest scored multiple runs in three of its seven turns at-bat, including two in the first, three in the fifth, and five in the seventh.
• The Southwest defense turned three doubles plays in three consecutive innings in the victory.
• Gavin Kramer took the mound in relief in the third inning and allowed just one run over the final five innings to earn the win for Southwest. Kramer only ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth, and after allowing a run, escaped a jam with a clutch strikeout looking.
• Jake Sekany suffered the loss for Northwest, allowing five earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched.

South Stripes plated the first run of the contest in the third inning, and despite Northeast Stars responding with a pair of runs in the fourth, South Stripes plated seven unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings en route to the first-ever gold medal for the South Region at the 16U level.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• South Stripes struck first with a run in the third inning when Ty Powell scored on Landon Schaefer's RBI single to left field after leading off the side with a double to right field.
• Northeast Stars answered in the fourth inning with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead when Brayden Hy scored on an RBI groundout to second and Anthony Savino crossed home plate on a run-scoring single by Ryan Brown through the left side.
• South took its lead back in the bottom half of the fourth at 3-2 when Victor Coronado and Jackson Morris led off the inning with back-to-back base hits, and then a pair of errors allowed both runners to cross home plate.
• South extended its lead to 8-2 in the fifth, scoring five runs on four hits and an error. The inning was highlighted by a RBI single by Ed Small, back-to-back sacrifice flies Landon Schaefer and Kaden McCoy, and a RBI double by Masa Chilcut.

OF NOTE

• The victory marks the first-ever gold medal for the South Region at the 16U level. Additionally, it is the first-ever medal for the Northeast Region at the 16U level as it claimed silver.
• All eight of South's runs were in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.
• Ty Powell led all players with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, as it was the only multi-hit outing of the game.
• Northeast starting pitcher Matthew Vanostenbridge tallied seven strikeouts while Gary Perone fanned three batters for a combined 10 on the day for their squad. Vanostenbridge was saddled with the loss as he surrendered five earned runs in 4.2 innings. 
• Cooper Rummel tossed four innings to pick up the win on the mound for South, allowing two earned runs on two hits with a pair of strikeouts. 
• Mark Brissey and Caleb Hines combined to toss three shutout innings in relief and fanned six batters for South.
• South Stripes outhit Northeast Stars, 10-5.