CARY, N.C. - It took nine innings and just under four hours but Top Tier Roos American claimed the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina gold medal with a 12-8 win over the East Coast Sox Franchise.

In a back-and-forth game, the East Coast Sox Franchise battled back to tie the game on four separate occasions until a five-run ninth inning propelled the Top Tier Roos American to victory.

The teams traded runs in the second frame before Top Tier pulled out to a 4-1 advantage in the third and added another run in the fourth. Each team had a balanced offensive attack as a run was scored in all but one-half inning between the second and seventh innings.

After Top Tier took a one-run lead in the seventh and East Coast responded with a run of their own to send the game to extras, the Top Tier offense exploded for five runs in the ninth to secure the victory. East Coast’s rally in the bottom half fell four runs short and Top Tier sealed the deal to claim gold.

Thomas Crabtree started the game for East Coast, giving up four runs in 3.0 innings pitched while John Abraham started on the mound for Top Tier, allowing one run in 2.0 innings of work. Aidan Miller threw the final five frames for the gold medal winners, allowing two runs on seven hits.

Scorpions Marucci won the tournament’s bronze medal after Mark Estrada and Hudson Calhoun threw a combined no-hitter in a 12-0 win over the Dulins Dodgers Prime.

Key Moments

• Cristofer Walley got the scoring started for Top Tier Roos American in the top of the second, driving in Fletcher Hislop on a single into center.
• Marcos Rosales came into tie the game for East Coast Sox Franchise in the bottom of the second on a hit by Jax Yoxtheimer.
• A two-run single from Hislop scored Landen Maroudis and Wes Mendes to put Top Tier up 4-1 in the third.
• After East Coast got one back in the bottom of the third, Top Tier added another a half inning later on a Miller single. But a two-run bottom of the fourth and a Riley Myers single in the fifth for East Coast again tied the game, 5-5.
• Both teams scored in the sixth to make it a 6-6 game, with East Coast’s run coming on a Kade Anderson double into right.
• Hislop collected his third RBI of the game to put Top Tier on top 7-6 in the top half of the seventh but Casey Borba singled for East Coast to score Butt and send the game to extras.
• Neither team was able to bring across a run in the eighth but a Steven Milam leadoff double in the ninth scored Ben Oosterbaan with international tie-breaker rules in effect to give Top Tier as 8-7 advantage.
• Cade Kurland finished the scoring in the top of the ninth by providing two insurance runs with a double that scored Walley and Milam for the final 10-7 score.

Notable Information

• Top Tier Roos American finished the tournament 5-1 with their only loss coming in the team’s second pool play game.
• Aidan Miller finished the week with a team-high .471 (8-for-17) batting average in the tournament while Cade Kurland had a team-high five RBIs.
• Miller also threw a team-high 7.2 innings for Top Tier, including five innings in Monday’s gold medal game.

Quotables

• "This team has been together since they were 11 years old. This is what they do. They never quit.” – Top Tier Roos American Head Coach Jason Miller on winning gold
• I wasn’t trying to do too much. Just trying to put the bat on the ball with runners in scoring position.” – Fletcher Hislop on his approach at the plate
• “It feels good. We fought for this one. Tough teams with good competition and we were able to come out on top.” – Steven Milam on winning the gold medal game.

Social

• Stay tuned to @USABChamps_NC on Twitter for the most up-to-date information on the National Team Championships North Carolina.