PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Team Citius USA - Roland rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overcome a late deficit and defeat Florida Stealth 2021, 5-4, at Roger Dean Stadium in the gold medal game of the USA Baseball 14U National Team Championships (East).
Florida Stealth 2021 was the first team on the board after Everette Cooper crossed the plate on an RBI-single by Jason L'Etoile, but Team Citius USA - Roland quickly followed with two runs of its own. Chris Bernal walked to begin the inning and advanced to second on a throwing error by the pitcher before back-to-back RBI-singles by Jorge Cuevas and Luke Smith put them in front, 2-1, after the second inning.
Florida Stealth 2021 tied the game at three in the fourth inning and added an a fourth run in the fifth inning to take a one-run lead into the final two frames. But for the second time, Team Citius USA - Roland would respond.
Emmanuel Garza, one of Team Citius USA - Roland's strongest hitters, sparked the comeback with a single to start the bottom of the sixth inning and a walk to Jose Valdez put runners on first and second with two outs. With the pressure mounting, Team Citius USA - Roland put the ball in play and tied the game on a fielding error by the shortstop. After a walk loaded the bases, Team Citius USA - Roland eventually scored the gold-medal winning run on a passed ball on the first pitch of the next at-bat.
With the one-run lead, Gerardo Cuevas shut down any chance of a comeback by Florida Stealth 2021, striking out two of the final three batters of the game, and won its first National Team Championship (East) title.
Team Citius USA - Roland finished the tournament with a 6-1 record. Leading up to the championship game, Team Citius USA - Roland outscored its opponents 37-0 and surrendered only 5 total hits in the three games following its only loss of the tournament.
The team hit .367 (65-177) and tallied a 1.019 OPS, meanwhile its pitching staff held a 0.89 ERA and limited its opponents to a .165 batting average for the entire tournament.
Both teams ended with accolades as they both led the tournament in runs scored and total hits. Florida Stealth 2021 made its mark at the top of the overall leaderboard with 30 walks and 21 stolen bases. Team Citius USA - Roland's pitching staff racked up 36 strikeouts to lead all teams.