Thirty-two teams have earned their spot in bracket play of the 16U National Team Championships in Arizona, but only one will earn gold by the end of it. The first round of bracket play is done in Surprise and Peoria, Arizona, so let’s get into all the action from Saturday’s first round of playoff baseball.
Click here to view scores, schedule updates, and more from throughout bracket play and click here to view scores from each and every game of the tournament.
Surprise, Arizona
Trosky/Milwaukee Brewers Scout Team followed up its impressive series of pool play performances with another win. Facing Swarm Red Elite National in the Round of 32 in Surprise, Trosky nearly put on another shutout in its 6-2 win. Stacked Baseball plated all nine of its runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings of its six-inning, 9-1 win over GBG Inland Empire to move onto the next round in Surprise.
Ghost National also defeated its opponents, TB SoCal, by a score of 9-1. While Ghost scored in all but one frame, it put up five runs in the second to race past TB and book their ticket to the round of 16. The Long Beach Bears also only allowed one run in its Round of 32 victory, downing California Dukes Baseball 6-1 at the Texas Rangers’ spring training facility in Surprise.
Both Texas Twelve Red Sox and 5 Star West San Diego continued the streak of holding opposing teams to just one run. Texas Twelve overcame an early 1-0 deficit for a 3-1 round of 32 win over CBA Summit while 5 Star put on a persistent offensive effort throughout its battle with NorCal White, securing a 5-1 victory in Surprise.
To finish off the round of 32 action in Surprise, CCB Prime outgunned Badlands Baseball 11-6 and GBG Vegas defeated So Cal Birds White in a close, 5-3 bout after scoring all five runs in the first two innings of its round of 32 battle.
Peoria, Arizona
Round of 32 action in Peoria, Arizona started with Prime Red’s thrilling, walk-off win in extra innings against New Level. Up big against New Level early on, Prime Red proceeded to give up six runs in the final three innings. New Level tied things up with a three-run seventh, but Prime Red responded in the bottom of the eighth with a walk-off run for an exciting 7-6 win. Next Level also won close, defeating One National 3-1 on its way to the Round of 16 in Peoria at the Seattle Mariners’ spring training facility.
Baum Bat NW also punched its ticket to the next round with a dominant 9-0 shutout victory over GamePrep Baseball Academy after run-ruling its opponents in just five innings. Team Cal Warriors took down CBA Victus San Diego after warding off a late, top-of-the-seventh comeback, eventually winning 4-3 on the Mariners’ quad in Peoria.
TB SoCal Evoshield put on a 13-1 rout over Rawlings Tigers OC in the Round of 32. Run-ruling Rawlings in just four innings, TB put up all 13 runs in just three, dominant frames during its first round of bracket play. Meanwhile, the Scottsdale Dirtbags beat out MBA Navy in extra innings. Performing well in the clutch, the Dirtbags plated one each in the seventh and eighth to move onto the round of 16 with a 4-3 win.
To wrap up the action in the round of 32, Canes West also won in an exciting, extra-innings bout. Down for the majority of its game against CBA Bulldogs, Canes put on a heroic four-run sixth inning to make it a tie game, then plated two go-ahead runs in the eighth to win it 6-4. Finally, FS21 Stars easily defeated OC Premier Navy 9-1 in six innings, scoring in all but one of its Round of 32 frames.
