CARY, N.C. - As the saying goes, defense wins championships. This week, Juan Fontela and company are out to prove it at the 12U National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup, having now earned their chance to enter the semifinals on Sunday morning at Thomas Brooks Park.
The NTIS is nothing new for Fontela, who as the regional director for the Southwest Region helped put multiple teams together that have, are currently playing, and will play in Cary this summer. One of the most impressive is the 12U South Stars, whom Fontela is also leading as the head coach this week. His side blanked both the Northwest Stripes and Northeast Stripes by scores of 6-0 on Thursday and Friday, respectively, revealing themselves as a disciplined two-way unit.
“We're always looking for really good athletes, explosive athletes, guys that can throw the baseball, hit the baseball at this age. Pitching is a really big deal here, we take our pitching pretty seriously down in the Southwest with the young guys especially,” Fontela said with a grin while explaining how the team initially came together.
On Friday, with postseason play and the No. 1 seed on the line, the South Stars matched up against a Midwest Stars squad that had won its first two games of the week 27-6 and 23-0, a staggering 50-6 run differential. But they never flinched, sticking to the game plan and dragging the Midwest Stars into a close defensive duel. The first five runs of the game were all tied to pitching or fielding errors, and by the time the sixth inning rolled around Fontela’s side held a 3-2 advantage.
Having stifled the best offense at Thomas Brooks Park over five frames, things were going well for the South Stars until the tying run raced home on an RBI groundout from Joshua Matthews. While the Midwest Stars could only tie the game 3-3, there was a chance the momentum would shift away from the South Stars heading into the final stages of the game.
Two outs into the bottom of the sixth, it certainly looked like it had. Until Tucker Curtiss mashed a double over the centerfielder, then put himself on third courtesy of a wild pitch. Eli Deville was the hero for the South Stars in the clutch, bombing another double into center to restore his side’s lead. The South Stars’ trademark defense held the line in the seventh inning, earning a 4-3 lead and moving to 3-0.
“It was awesome. We knew we were playing for a one seed today. Those guys are grinders, those guys are strong, they're tough, and they're never going to give up. And it was great to see them come out with a win fighting so hard, even though we haven't been swinging the bats as well as we probably can,” Fontela said about his team postgame.
While the South Stars’ bats won the day on Saturday, the defense was a factor the entire way. It takes an entire team effort to hold a team that scored 50 runs in two games to just three.
“Anytime we're looking to win baseball games, we know pitching and defense is going to be a main focus for us. If we can keep guys off the bases, we know we’re giving ourselves a good chance to win the ball game,” Fontela explained. “Pitching is always a priority for us. We knew that team was swinging the bats really well, and we knew what we were up against, but we knew we had the guys to kind of counteract that and come out with a win.”
When asked if there was any secret to the South Stars’ defensive prowess, or anything the team had specifically been honing in on at practice, Fontela once again pointed to the team’s bread-and-butter; the pitching.
“We're just throwing strikes. We’ve got guys who can really throw the baseball right, guys who can throw three or four pitches whenever they want for strikes. We’ve got some guys who can overpower you, and guys who can come in and make speeds for us as well. So we're watching swings, we're watching arms. We're watching how everybody's working, and kind of doing our best to put those guys in the best position to win the ball game.”
Nolan Bingham, Alex Pena, Ben Wilson, Austin Percival III, Evan Vanover, David Collazo, Fabian Avila, Patrick Hloska, and Lucas Diaz are the ‘guys’ in question, and they have formed the most formidable rotation at Thomas Brook Park this week. Not only that, but several players such as Hloska and Percival III have also contributed at the plate, going back to what Fontela highlighted when talking about what he looks for in players. It was Hloska’s turn to be the two-way star against the Midwest Stars, holding the game down for the first several innings while being a threat on the basepaths.
It’s been a fun ride this week for the South Stars, helped by the team currently sporting a 3-0 ledger. Fontela highlighted what has made this team so special after Saturday’s game.
“Watching them get together and come together as a team, watching them meet each other, make new friends and play hard for each other. These kids play a lot of showcases and a lot of invite-only type events, and it's a little different here. When you put those colors on and put the U-S-A letters on your chest, it feels like more of a family. It feels right,” Fontela noted. “Guys become best friends, and it's memories that they're going to share for a lifetime, same with us. So we're really appreciative of those memories. And that's probably the best part of this whole thing, for sure.”
With Sunday’s semifinal matchup looming, how do Fontela and the South Stars keep their momentum rolling and bring their shutdown defense into the postseason?
“Good attitudes. A little bit of quiet confidence, knowing that we're one of the best teams out here, pound for pound. They just get a little bit of confidence and keep it rolling through the weekend. And that's been the M.O., just playing hard, playing for the name on the front, not the name on the back, and keeping it rolling.”
With gold on the line on Sunday morning, the South Stars will get their chance to keep rolling.
