CARY, N.C. – With three days in the books at the 11U/13U National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup, the stage is set for bracket play on Sunday. Eight teams across the two age groups secured their spots in Sunday’s semifinal round – let’s take a look at how each team got to the semifinals.
11U
NO. 1 SEED SOUTH STARS
After an 8-1 win over the Midwest Stars on Thursday and 15-5 victory over the Southwest Stripes on Friday, the South Stars cruised to a 10-1 win over the Northwest Stars on Saturday finish pool play with a perfect 3-0 record. They hold the No. 1 seed heading into Sunday’s semifinal games.
The South Stars jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, which was sparked by Radner Roth’s bases-clearing triple. Roth hit his second triple of the game in the fifth inning and scored on a single by Joseph Ulrich to make it 5-0, and then a 2-RBI double from Jonah Vargas extended the lead to 7-0. In the seventh, a run-scoring single, an RBI fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly gave the South Stars a commanding 10-0 lead, but the Northwest Stars avoided the shutout with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom frame.
NO. 2 SEED SOUTHWEST STARS
The Southwest Stars put together a dominant performance on Saturday, downing the Northwest Stripes 16-1 to go 3-0 in pool play and secure the No. 2 seed heading into the semifinals. Across the first two games, the squad outscored its opponents 25-11 with 13-6 and 12-5 wins over the Northeast Stripes and Southeast Stars, respectively.
In its matchup with Northwest Stripes, the Southwest Stars used a 10-run first inning, highlighted by run-scoring hits by Blain Watson, Easton Sousa, and Leo Reyes, to eventually earn its third win of the week. An RBI double by William Wyman and RBI groundout in the second, followed by an RBI fielder’s choice and sacrifice fly by William Hill in the third, extended the Southwest Stars lead to 14-0. After three quiet innings, a two-base error with runners in scoring position made it 16-0 in the seventh. In the final frame of the game, the Northwest Stripes got on the board thanks to a sac fly from Ramon Spears Jr., but a pickoff at first ended the game.
NO. 3 SEED NORTHEAST STARS
The Northeast Stars completed pool play with a 3-0 record to earn the No. 3 seed heading into bracket play on Sunday. After defeating the South Stripes 5-3 on Thursday and Southeast Stripes 18-11 on Friday, the squad set itself up for a top seed on Saturday after holding off the Midwest Stripes 13-8.
The Northeast Stars scored a combined 12 runs across the first four innings, but a pair of groundouts in the fifth put the Midwest Stripes on the board to make it 12-2. Graysen Flynn’s RBI single to right field in the fifth made it 13-2 in favor of the Northeast Stars, but the Midwest Stripes responded with a six-run burst to cut its deficit to 13-8 on a pair of hits, RBI groundout, and defensive miscue. Northeast Stars’ Brady Torregrossa came in with two outs in the sixth to stop the bleeding, and proceeded to toss a scoreless inning to close out the game and hold off the Midwest Stars’ attempted comeback.
NO. 4 SEED SOUTH STRIPES
The South Stripes managed to overcome a 5-3 loss to the Northeast Stars on Thursday and capture a 7-3 win over the Midwest Stripes on Friday and a 11-3 result over the Southeast Stripes on Saturday. The squad will enter the semifinals at the No. 4 seed at the 11U level.
Despite Jaxson Sanchez’s RBI outfield single that gave the South Stripes a 1-0 lead in the first, an error allowed the Southeast Stripes to knot the score in the bottom frame. The South Stripes responded over the next three innings with eight runs to take a 9-1 lead. Evan Ireland, Brayden Irvin, and Rylan Williams all contributed hits across the three-inning stretch. In the fifth, the Southeast Stripes looked to overcome its deficit with an infield single by LaQuienten Brooks and an RBI groundout by Hudson Gibbs to make it 9-3, but the South Stripes bounced back with a pair of runs on a triple and groundout to make it 11-3. Starting pitcher Brody Pemberton had a strong outing as he went into the fifth inning and gave up just one run, while Carlos Guerro tossed a scoreless seventh to help his team secure the win.
13U
NO. 1 SEED NORTHEAST STARS
The Northeast Stars picked up wins over the Midwest Stars, the Southeast Stripes, and the Northwest Stripes to secure a spot in the 13U semifinals as the top seed. The squad scored seven runs in each of its first two wins: a 7-3 win on Thursday and a 7-6 walk-off victory on Saturday. The Northeast’s 8-1 win over the Northwest on Saturday morning–which featured a three-run fourth inning and a two-run sixth–locked in its spot in Sunday’s bracket play.
Saturday’s win over the Northwest Stripes began with an RBI infield single by Brian Park in the top of the first inning. Park added the next run in the fourth with an RBI groundout to bring home Matthew Cusick, and Jalen Henry followed with an inside-the-park homer to give the Northeast a four-run lead. Two runs in both the fifth and seventh innings put the game out of reach; Cruz Graham ended the shutout with a final-inning sac fly for the Northwest, but the Stars ended it there with an 8-1 win.
NO. 2 SEED MIDWEST STRIPES
A 2-0-1 showing in pool play locked the Midwest Stripes into the semifinals as the two seed. The Stripes began play on Thursday by mounting a furious comeback to tie the Southwest Stars, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie 9-9. Another big scoring outburst on Friday gave Midwest its first win in tournament play, a 10-5 victory over the Northeast Stripes. Needing a win in Saturday morning’s pool play finale, the Midwest Stripes put up five runs in the top of the second en route to a 10-4 victory over the South Stars.
The win on Saturday was in large part thanks to Charlie Kohman, who hit a two-run triple in the second and scored on an error to put Midwest in front 3-0. Roman Burch gave the Stripes their fourth run of the second with an RBI knock and a run-scoring groundout made it 5-0 in the early goings. The game remained 5-0 until the Midwest added two more in the fifth and held off a late South Stars push to win, 10-4.
NO. 3 SEED SOUTHWEST STRIPES
A 2-1 record got the Southwest Stripes into Sunday’s bracket play as the No.3 seed. The Stripes got their tournament started with a come-from-behind win on Thursday over the Southeast Stars, thanks to Julius Berrios and Noah Morales both scoring key runs and James Joseph securing the save. Then, on Friday, Cody Lashlee tossed six strong innings to propel the Southwest Stripes past the South Stripes in a 4-2 victory. Despite dropping its pool play finale on Saturday, the two earlier wins were enough to get the team into bracket play.
NO. 4 SEED SOUTHWEST STARS
After beginning the tournament with a 9-9 draw against the Midwest Stripes–which included the Midwest scoring seven runs in the sixth–the Southwest Stars rebounded for two wins to grab the final spot in the semifinals. Jackson Mcaneeley hit a bases-clearing triple as part of a seven-run second inning in a day two win over the South Stars, and the Southwest wrapped up pool play with a 4-2 win over the Northeast Stripes.
The Northeast opened the scoring with runs in the first and second innings on Saturday, scoring on a wild pitch and error to go up 2-0. The Southwest trimmed its deficit in half on an RBI groundout by Logan Mariscal in the fifth and then Mcaneeley clubbed a two-run double to put the Stars in front. The Southwest added one more in the fifth and held on to win it, with Dylan Hood finalizing the big win on the mound.
