In the end, there was no suspense in the final gold medal matchup of the 2024 National Team Championships. Stacked National entered the championship as the only undefeated team left in the field of 20, and remained as such following a resounding 9-0 win over Excel Blue Wave National in five innings on Thursday.

Stacked National saved its best for last, scoring the team’s tournament high in runs while putting together a shutout for the second straight game. After close calls and one-score games, Stacked has been the best team in Cary, North Carolina, on the semifinal and final stages this week.

The road to the final Champs gold of the summer at the USA Baseball National Training Complex began for Stacked with a 5-3 win over Wow Factor National, led by a dominant two-way effort from Tanner Brown. Brown picked up the win with a stellar 3.0 innings, striking out six batters against a lone hit and an earned run during his shift. At the plate, he posted a game-high two hits and three RBIs to push Stacked National to the win.

On Monday afternoon, Stacked would defeat Indiana Bulls Black 5-3 behind two hits each from Chase Mattoon, Liam Gonzalez, and Jaxon Olmstead. Mattoon finished the game having scored twice and drove in an RBI.

While nobody knew it at the time, pool play would pit the two finalists against each other in a thrilling matchup on Tuesday. Both Stacked National and Blue Wave Excel entered 2-0, with Stacked emerging victorious by a final score of 4-3 to clinch the top spot in the group. Olmstead, Gonzalez, and Brown all tallied RBIs in a decisive three-run fifth inning that put Stacked up 4-1. On the mound, the trio of Ryder Cielen, Colin Dirocco, and Aidan Sun combined for 12 strikeouts and five hits allowed.

The quarterfinals proved the biggest test for Stacked National, as the future champions and Team Elite finished the seventh inning deadlocked at 4-4. Brown and Sun had both raked hits and combined for three RBIs, while Andrew Jimenez had held Team Elite scoreless in the sixth and seventh frames. Jimenez held his nerve in the top of the eighth inning, striking out the first two batters he faced before a groundout ended the top of the frame. Kyle Plasman would be the hero at the plate, lasering a fly ball over the outfield to bring the walk-off run home in extras. The quest for the Stacked National’s first medal finish at 15U Champs was still alive.

Even with a gold medal around his neck the next day, Gonzalez mentioned that the win over Team Elite was still the highlight of his week.

“I'd probably say my favorite piece of the tournament was in the first game yesterday against Team Elite,” he said on Thursday. “We went into extra innings and we hit a walk-off. That moment shows that we have each other's backs through everything. It was awesome. We were truly a family out there.”

It was almost as if being taken to extras flipped a switch for Stacked, as the team emerged in dominant fashion to shut down the Dirtbags 5-0 in the semifinals. Gonzalez and Brown again led the offense, beginning with a Gonzalez RBI single and RBI triple from Brown to bring him home in the third inning. Roy Kim put together a six-inning gem on the mound with just two hits allowed, and the defense behind him was spotless.

In the title game against Excel Blue Wave National, Stacked National was even better. Gonzalez slashed a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first inning, scoring on an RBI single from Mattoon. While Excel was able to limit the damage to just a single run after the bases had been loaded, the start at the plate signaled something was brewing offensively for Stacked National.

The breakthrough came in the third inning, as a Stacked National team that had scored four or five runs in all five previous games erupted for eight in a single frame. Plasman plated the second run on an RBI groundout, and with two outs a single from Sun extended the lead to 3-0. A bases-loaded walk and pair of defensive errors swelled Stacked National’s lead to 7-0, and a double looped into center by Brown sent the final two runs of the day home before the end of the inning.

“I think our bats were a lot better in the semifinals and in the championship game. When we started the weekend. Everyone was a little anxious at the plate. Later on, we were able to settle down and have some good at-bats,” Brown said after the game.

Finishing with a game-high two hits and two RBIs, Brown also picked up his second win of the week on the mound. He was nearly spotless over the first 3.1 innings, issuing a lone walk while retiring five batters.

“We were just playing for the team. We were excited to be out here playing and just wanted to win more,” he said after the championship. “I knew I needed to come out ready to compete and throw strikes in the zone early. I didn’t want to give up any free bases either. I just kept attacking hitters and put full trust in my defense.”

Brown has been in this situation before. Stacked National has four players who have climbed the Champs ranks over the last three years, earning gold at 13U Champs NC in 2022 before falling in a rain-shortened title game at 14U Champs NC last summer; Brown, Jimenez, Cielen, and Plasman.

“Yeah, it feels great. We were here last year at the 14U tournament and lost in the championship so it was nice to come back here and win it all. It felt good for sure,” Brown said. Other players such as Gonzalez had the chance to experience the gold medal feeling for the first time on Thursday, and won’t forget it for a while.

“It’s an amazing feeling. We just played as a team all the way through. We were the hardest fighting team out here and we take pride in that. So it was awesome,” Gonzalez said.

Stacked National would finish the week 6-0, with 33 runs scored and just 13 allowed. The lineup was, as the name implies, stacked. Gonzalez attributed the team’s success to the tight-knit atmosphere the players have with each other and with the coaches that he highlighted from the Team Elite game.

“It took everyone, it was really a full-team effort. Our dugout was the loudest one here throughout the tournament. Tanner's [Brown] pitching was on lockdown and it was awesome to see him work on the mound like he did. We capitalized in the big moments and kept fighting to win,” Gonzalez said. “We're all from the same area. We all have each other's backs. When someone is down, we pick them up and we keep playing hard until the final pitch.”

The theme of players having each other’s backs was something that Brown credited for his performance on the mound, and for the success that the rest of the Stacked pitching staff had during the week.

“Our pitchers were throwing strikes and getting big outs in big moments, we trusted the defense that played behind them, that's for sure,” he said. “I think it's because we play for each other. We're all one big team. We all focus and lock in for each other when we’re playing.”

It showed throughout the week, and culminated in a gold medal finish. For the first time, Stacked National is on the podium at 15U Champs NC - and the team is at the very top.

All three medalists at 15U Champs NC this week are first-time finishers. Excel Blue Wave National ends its first campaign with a 4-2 record and silver medal, while by default USA Prime nabbed the bronze to close out the 2024 15U National Team Championships. The win also marks USA Prime’s first podium finish at 15U Champs NC.