SURPRISE, Ariz. - In the first game of the 2023 National Team Championships Arizona's final day, BPA Black used a consistent flow of offense to roll past New Level 6-3 and take home the bronze medal for the 14U age group. The third-place finish marks the fifth time that the organization has medaled at a Champs AZ event (three gold, two bronze), and the first for its 14U team since 2017.

The BPA Black hitters came out of the gates looking like they were ready to leave the Valley of the Sun with some hardware in tow, as they managed to jump on the board in the game's opening frame via some textbook small ball. Zion Martinez got things going with a leadoff base hit into left field, and after a productive ground out and a passed ball moved him over to third, Dyson Grant did the job perfectly with a well-executed squeeze bunt that brought him home easily.

Martinez kickstarted things once again in the third, helping his offense stay relentless through the middle innings. The BPA Black shortstop led off the frame by lining an 0-1 pitch right down the line for a triple, and he would score his second run of the game one batter later when Wilson Shaw singled to bring him in.

The fourth and fifth innings were where BPA Black really started to widen the gap, as they pushed across a pair of runs in each to bring their advantage up to five. In the former, Carson Binder and Landon Scott picked up their first RBIs of the game with a double and a ground out respectively, and in the latter, a ground out by Nasir Akil and a wild pitch brought in the team's final runs of the game.

This early onslaught provided Akil plenty of breathing room as BPA Black's starter, and he took full advantage of it by turning in a very solid performance on the hill. The lanky righty conceded just a lone unearned run in his four innings of work, striking out two opposing hitters during that time against one hit and three free passes allowed. The only hiccup for Akil came in the fourth when New Level got on the board for the first time with a double and an error, but he managed to work out of trouble right after that to finish his day on a high note.

Following Akil, Scott performed admirably on the mound as well to bring things home for BPA Black. The young hurler was summonded from the bullpen to escape a two-on, no-out jam in the fifth, and after a sac bunt moved both runners into scoring position, he worked his way out of trouble unscathed by getting a pop out and a huge strikeout.

From there, Scott was able to guide the game to the finish line. He ran into trouble in the last inning when two leadoff hit batsman and a base hit loaded the bases with no outs and brought the tying run to the plate, but after a passed ball allowed one to score, he again pulled off a magic act by inducing a line drive double play and an easy fly out that slammed the door shut and earned BPA Black the bronze medal.

Notable Stats

• Martinez led the way for the BPA Black offense, going 2-4 with a triple and two runs scored
• Ben Jacobus also recorded a multi-hit game, finishing with a line of 2-3 with one run scored.
• Beyond those two, three more players got into the hit column, with those being Shaw, Binder, and Logan Mojica.
• Akil and Scott combined to allow just four hits and two earned runs on the mound while striking out three hitters between them.

On Deck

• The 2023 National Team Championships Arizona come to a conclusion with the 14U gold-medal game, when No. 3 seeded Next Level Baseball squares off against No. 5 Cali National Murphy. Both teams will be looking to win their first-ever gold medal at a Champs AZ event.