CARY, N.C. - Behind a strong showing on the mound, the Padres Amateur Team secured a 3-1 championship game victory over TPA to claim the 16U gold medal in the 2017 Labor Day Cup on Monday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
Mike Kenney, Michael Gill III and Tyler Cotto combined on the bump for Padres Amateur to toss a three-hitter, allowing just one run and two walks while striking out eight en route to the win.
TPA starter Ben Reichard matched that performance early on as this game started in a pitcher's duel with neither team giving up a hit until the second inning. The TPA bats then got things going first.
Jon Fain laced a leadoff triple to left field in the top of the fourth and then crossed the plate for the first run of the game on a RBI groundout by Sam Kulasingam to give TPA a 1-0 lead.
But Padres Amateur wasted no time answering as it took advantage of an error to tie it up 1-1 in the bottom half. The squad followed that with a Matt Masciangelo RBI single and a Cotto RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead and it never looked back.
Five Padres Amateur players recorded hits in the victory and Cotto led the way offensively, going 1-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and a RBI.
David Keith went 2-for-3 to lead TPA from the plate.