FS21 Stars won bronze at last year’s National Team Championships in Arizona. This year, the Stars have the chance to one-up its 2023 performance and win gold.

After downing two formidable teams in TB SoCal and Baum Bat NW, the team officially punched its ticket to the gold medal match. Thanks to starting pitcher Noah Weiss, who pitched an impressive six innings against Baum Bat, he’ll also have the chance to claim what he and his team couldn’t last summer.

“[The win] is amazing,” Weiss said. “We've been in this tournament for a while now, we got bronze last year. It feels great to be able to play for gold this year.”

How did FS21 Stars get the chance to go for gold this year? They did it with grit and resilience, qualities that head coach Freddie Sanchez prides himself and his team on.

“We don't give up, we don't quit,” Sanchez said. “That's what I'm built on, that's what our team is built on. I don't care about what someone’s ranking is. I just want a bunch of gamers, guys that have that, that killer mentality of, ‘I'm gonna go out there and play the game the right way, the way it's supposed to be played.’”

First in its pre-championship doubleheader, the Stars downed TB SoCal in a 7-3 victory. Don’t let that final scoreline fool you, though. FS21 and TB went blow-for-blow, and the Stars finally took down their opponents in extra innings thanks to a four-run eighth inning that was sparked by a couple of extra base hits.

Later on, Sanchez’s team — and especially Weiss — showed even more fight against Baum Bat NW.

Weiss was dealing on the mound and wasn’t afraid to attack the strike zone. He and his defense held Baum Bat scoreless for the first six frames of the bout as the determined pitcher brought his best stuff in the semifinals.

“​​I could pitch him against anybody in the country, I honestly believe that,” Sanchez said. “He’s not well known because he doesn't have the high velocity and all this other stuff. But that kid is a gamer and one of the top pitchers in the country. He mixes up his pitches so well, and golly, that kid's a bulldog.”

Even though he only had one strikeout all day, Weiss forced soft contact and let his team behind him do the rest of the work.

“He keeps them off balance,” Sanchez said. “A lot of times it's just putting the ball in play, weak contact. That's why he was able to almost finish the game. And our defense, our defense came up big today.”

Meanwhile, Weiss’ offense put up four runs in support of its pitcher. Thanks to the lead, Weiss settled in and felt comfortable throwing whatever pitch he needed to to shut Baum Bat NW down.

“I just have freedom to do whatever,” Weiss said. “Having that four-run cushion really makes you relax on the mound and just play free.”

While his time on the mound didn’t last forever, and Baum Bat put up a run in the seventh frame, FS21 came out with a 4-1 win to advance to the final round and have a shot at its ultimate mission: winning gold.

After gutting out two big wins in the quarter and semifinals, Sanchez knows his team will have to fight to win it all against its opponents, Stacked Baseball. However, he knows his team will show the same fight and grit in the gold medal matchup.

“I knew TB SoCal was going to be a dog fight — what a great team,” Sanchez said. “And this Baum Bat, golly, they had some good arms and we were able to squeak it out. But it feels good. It feels good to come out there and we control our destiny on what happens now.”