Team Red Picks up First Win at the 2024 16U/17U NTDP Thanks to Big Third Inning, While Team Navy Earns Comeback Win over Team White

Both NTDP games decided by two or less runs

CARY, N.C. - On the second day of games at the 2024 National Team Development Program, Team Red and Team Navy came out victorious. Team Red plated three runs in the third inning to go along with solid pitching for a 3-1 win over the Canadian Junior National Team, while Team Navy scored four runs across the final two innings for a 4-3, nail-biting win over Team White.

TEAM RED 3, CANADIAN JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM 1

Box Score | PxP | Team Red Cumulative Stats

AS IT HAPPENED:

  • Team Red starter Brayden Harris kept Canada scoreless over the first three innings, striking out a pair of batters and giving his offense time to find its footing.
  • Team Red’s offense began to click in the third inning, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a single from RJ Cope Jr. Tyler Spangler drew the third Team Red walk of the inning for the game’s first run, followed by John Stowers delivering another two runners home on a two-RBI single into right.
  • Canada plated what proved to be its lone run of the contest in the sixth inning - a fielder’s choice that allowed Dante Smith to reach home from third.
  • Harris was credited with the win after exiting with Team Red up 3-0, and Gio Rojas earned the save after tossing two scoreless innings while fanning three batters. Canada’s Sean Duncan would be saddled with the loss.

NOTABLE STATS:

  • Stowers and Cope both tallied a pair of hits, tying with Canada’s Anthony Clavet for the game high.
  • Stowers was the only player to finish with multiple RBIs, while Team Red’s Spangler and Canada’s Smith had one each to contribute to the combined four in the game.
  • Rojas and Denton Lord paced Team Red on the mound with three strikeouts each, while Canada’s Aiden Taggart and Max Poirier recorded four punchouts apiece.

TEAM NAVY 4, TEAM WHITE 3

Box Score | PxP | Team Navy Cumeulative Stats | Team White Cumulative Stats

AS IT HAPPENED:

  • Jaxon Matthews delivered the opening run of the game in the fourth inning, driving an RBI single into right field to score Nathaneal Davis.
  • Team White’s pitching trio of Giovanni Gauriglia, Kevin Roberts Jr., and Joshua Jannicelli combined to allow just a single hit over the first six innings, striking out nine batters in the process.
  • Team Navy answered in the seventh inning when Dylan Minnatee raced to third on a fielder’s choice, and then home on an ensuing error to tie the game. Devin Diaz, who had initially reached on the fielder’s choice and moved to second on a walk by Brandon Lorenzo, put Navy ahead 2-1 by scoring on an RBI single from Kyler Meccage.
  • Minnatee drove another two runs in on an RBI double into left in the eighth inning, and a defensive miscue on the throw in allowed him to advance to third.
  • Down 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Team White sparked a rally thanks to a fielding error and a sac fly from Louis Hernandez II, but Team Navy held on as a groundout to first ended the game.

NOTABLE STATS:

  • Guariglia and Jannicelli tied for the game-high with four strikeouts each. Team White’s Cole Dunlap and Navy’s Andrew Gette retired three batters apiece.
  • Team Navy’s Graham Schlicht earned the win as he did not allow an earned run to score across the final two innings, while Dunlap took the loss for Team White.
  • Team White’s Davis, Matthews, and Coleman Borthwick tied for the game high with three hits each, while six different Team Navy players tallied a hit apiece.
  • Minnatee led all players with two RBIs, and teammate Tyson Moore drew a game-high two walks.

ABOUT NTDP SCORING:
USA Baseball utilizes a modified scoring system for its development programs to achieve load management and mitigate potential injuries due to overuse for its youth athletes. Pitchers are subject to a maximum pitch count of 25 per inning during game play. In the event an inning is rolled because a pitcher has reached their maximum pitch count, runners on base may be contributed to the game score. As a result of this system, the final game score may not match the overall statistics.

ON DECK:
Team Navy will face the Canadian Junior National Team at Coleman Field at 11:30 a.m., followed by Team White versus Team Red at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 28, to complete the 2024 National Team Development Program.