IRVINE, Calif. - The Stars scored three runs in the final inning to come from behind and claim a 5-4 victory over the Stripes in game one of the 2019 18U National Team Trials on Tuesday at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California.
AJ Vukovich (Mukwonago, Wis.) collected three of the Stars' seven hits on the night to lead the team's offense, finishing 3-for-3 with a run scored, while Tanner Witt (Houston, Texas) collected two RBIs and a run scored. Austin Hendrick (Pittsburgh, Pa.) paced the Stripes at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Lucas Gordon (Los Angeles, Calif.) started for the Stars and got the win in the contest after two strong innings of work in which he struck out a game-high four batters. For the Stripes, Timmy Manning was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in his two innings on the mound.
KEY MOMENTS

• The Stars opened the scoring in the contest when Vukovich led off the bottom of the second inning with a double before Jason Savacool (Syracuse, N.Y.) followed with a double of his own to bring Vukovich home for a 1-0 Stars lead.
• An RBI-groundout by Dylan Crews (Longwood, Fla.) scored Savacool to give the Stars an early 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
• Hendrick reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the second for the Stripes and bring Jordan Walker (Stone Mountain, Ga.) to the plate, who launched a two-run home run over the left field fence to tie the game 2-2.
• Tyler Soderstrom (Turlock, Calif.) drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout before scoring on a Jackson Miller (New Port Richey, Fla.) RBI-single that gave the Stripes a 3-2 lead.
• The Stripes added to their lead in the sixth inning when Pete Crow-Armstrong (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) knocked a leadoff double to right field, stole third and scored on an error for a 4-2 Stripes advantage.
• Down to their final three outs, the Stars got things started when Crews drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a wild pitch and a Yohandy Morales (Miami, Fla.) groundout before scoring on another wild pitch to make it a 4-3 game.
• With the Stars down by one, Jack Bulger (Bowie, Md.) got on base with a single to bring Witt to the plate who knocked a ball over the center field wall for a two-run dinger that gave the Stars a 5-4 lead.
• Savacool took the ball on the mound in the bottom of the seventh to close out the 5-4 win for the Stars, giving up just one hit while striking out two and earning the save.

• Gordon (1-0) led all the pitchers in the game with four strikeouts in two innings and earned the win after allowing just one run and two hits.
• The loss was attributed to Manning (0-1) after he gave up three runs and two walks in the final two innings of the game.

• Game two of the five-game 18U National Team Trials Stars vs. Stripes series will be played on Wednesday, August 14, at 4:00 p.m. PT at Fullerton Junior College in Fullerton, Calif.
• The third game of the series will be played on Wednesday, August 15. The time and location of that contest will be announced at a later date.
• The teams will travel to Dodger Stadium for games four and five of the series on August 16 and 17, respectively. Game four will be played at 3:30 p.m. PT, while game five will be at 10:30 a.m. PT.

• Follow @USABaseball18U on Twitter for the most up-to-date information on the 18U National Team and 18U National Team Trials.