CARY, N.C. – Stacked Baseball used a five-run fifth inning to pull away from SBA Marucci and win gold with a 10-2 victory at the 13U National Team Championships North Carolina on Monday in Cary, North Carolina.

After scoring quickly in the top of the first on an inside-the-park homer by Joshua Priest, Stacked rallied for five runs in the top of the fifth to break the game open. Priest was in the middle of the run-scoring again, leading off the inning with a single and scoring later in the inning. Jose Partida, Ayden Coleman, Carson Sulsona, and Tanner Brown all had RBI hits in the inning for Stacked, which grew its lead to 8-1 in the frame.

Nine different players had at least one hit for Stacked, including Partida’s three-hit effort. Coleman paced the offense with three RBIs, while Priest added two hits and a pair of RBIs. John Hucko had three hits and an RBI to lead SBA’s offensive attack.

Aidan Kent hurled 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits to earn the win for Stacked. Nolan Riesenberg got the final out, entering in the sixth and coaxing a fly out to lock it down for Stacked. Witt McCammon surrendered the loss for SBA, allowing two earned runs in 2.2 innings on the mound.

Game Highlights

• After Tanner Brown walked to open the top of the first, Priest socked an inside-the-park homer to right-center field to give Stacked an immediate 2-0 lead.
• Justin Iannetto and Hucko both singled in SBA Marucci’s half of the first, but Kent escaped the jam to keep Stacked in front by two.
• Stacked manufactured a run in the top of the third on a double steal. Coleman scored from third in a rundown, giving Stacked a 3-0 edge.
• SBA cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Hayden Talmage, trimming the deficit to two. Kent then coaxed an inning-ending double play for Stacked to escape the inning without any further damage.
• Stacked began to pull way in the top of the fifth, plating five runs to take a seven-run lead. Priest started the rally with a leadoff single and came around to score on an RBI single by Partida, before Coleman drove in two runs on a single to make it a five-run advantage.
• Sulsona’s double to plate Coleman made it 7-1, and Brown capped the rally with an RBI single to give Stacked an 8-1 advantage.
• In the top of the sixth, Coleman grounded out to plate a run and Michael Flink added an RBI single as Stacked’s lead to grew 10-1.
• Hucko hit an infield single to shortstop to score a run in SBA’s final at-bats, making it a 10-2 final score in favor of Stacked.

Notable Information

• With the win, Stacked becomes the first-ever winners of the 13U National Team Championships North Carolina.
• The gold medal is Stacked’s first medal at the National Team Championships North Carolina in program history.
• Priest finished the tournament with a .522 (12-23) average, hitting a double, triple, and home run while driving in seven runs for Stacked.
• Partida and Kyle Plasman combined for 11 RBIs in the tournament to help pace the Stacked offense to a gold medal.
• Brown scored eight runs throughout the tournament, also drawing eight walks for Stacked.
• In the gold medal run, Stacked’s pitching staff combined for a 1.93 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.
• Hucko, who hit a walk-off single in the semifinal round, led SBA’s offense in the tournament with a .444 (8-18) average and four RBIs.