Santa Clarita, Calif. - Blue used four runs in the second inning to defeat Red, 6-3, in the final game of the 2019 12U National Team Trials on Thursday, at William S. Hart Pony Baseball and Softball Park in Santa Clarita, California.
Red won the 2019 12U National Team Trials series, 2-1, despite Thursday's loss, after defeating Blue, 9-5, on Tuesday and, 6-3, on Wednesday. 
Blue's starting pitcher Brenden Lewis (Santee, Calif.) (1-0) earned the win on the mound after hold Red scoreless in the first inning. Kalub Ramirez (Hereford, Texas) earned the save for Blue after allowing just one run and striking out a batter in two innings. Hamilton Friedberg (Redondo Beach, Calif.) (0-1) suffered the loss for Red after allowing three runs in 0.1 inning of relief. 
Eli Willits (Fort Cobb, Okla.) and Lucas Mejia (Phoenix, Ariz.) led Blue at the plate after recording two hits and driving in a run each. Jack Ruckert (Baton Rouge, La.) led Red offensively, earning a hit, a run scored and an RBI in the contest. Lucas Tinajero (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Gavin Hottle (Irvine, Calif.) recorded a double each for Red.
Key Moments
• Blue jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second after Josiah Hartshorn (Anaheim, Calif) led off the inning with a single down the left field line, before scoring on an RBI-single from Bryce Nixon (Huffman, Texas). Blue continued the scoring as Eli Willits (Fort Cobb, Okla.) and Isaac Rojas (Riverside, Calif.) contributed an RBI-singles and Nixon stole home to give Blue a 4-0 lead.
• Red responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second as Lucas Tinajero (Corpus Christi, Texas) hit a leadoff double and scored on a single from and Hamilton Friedberg (Redondo Beach, Calif.). Friedberg scored two batters later on a Blue error to cut the lead to 4-2.
• Logan Shields (Manvel, Texas) and Lucas Mejia (Phoenix, Ariz.) picked up an RBI-single and an RBI-double, respectively, in the top of the sixth to give Blue a 6-2 edge.
• Red scored the final run of the game as Jack Ruckert hit a single to shallow center field that plated Gustavo Melendez (Cayey, P.R.).
Notable Information
• Red won the three-game intrasquad scrimmage 2-1, after winning the first two games.  
• Brenden Lewis (1-0) earned the win for Blue, while Hamilton Friedberg (0-1) suffered the loss on the mound. 
• Rashad Hayes (Oakland, Calif.) led all batters with four hits in the series, while Nixon led both teams with three RBIs.
On Deck
• The final 18-man 12U National Team roster will be announced Thursday evening, following the final team meeting. 
• The 12U National Team will play two exhibition games on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21, before traveling to Tainan, Taiwan to compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup.
Social
• Stay tuned to @USABaseball12U on Twitter and visit USABaseball.com for the most up-to-date news about the 12U National Team.